Harry Potter and the Legend of the Dragoons
by sarevok anchev
Summary: I'M BACK! Harry's 6th year, he discovers something really unique about his bloodline. Some people will die, some people will live to see a new day again. A new prophecy awaits all of them. RandR please! thanks for those who reviewed!HPCC
1. The Task

_**Harry Potter and the Legend of Dragoons**_

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**Chapter 1: The Task**

It was very bright, like the whole room was an endless plain. Except maybe that there was a throne in one of the end of the room. The throne was made of ivory and other with its outline studded with every kind of precious jewels. On the throne sat a man. A man who looked as if he walked along side the growth of the world. Old, yet in shape. He had an air that seemed to resonate around the place, telling everyone that he can still bring a legion of blood-hungry orcs down. He had white long beard, with a deep, long scar on his right eye. He was dressed with the whitest, most elegant robe a man could find. On top of that what was a gothic half-plate mail which was shining brightly, showing no signs of scratches and dents. Elven enchantments.

"Elijah," the old man called out. "come forth," he continued.

Within a matter of seconds, blue spites come from all over the place, whirling around and formed a shape of a man. In a few moments, the sprites took complete form of a man, a man who looked youthful and battle-ready, his jet black hair that went to his shoulders in a samurai-style ponytail, royal blue eyes, his nose was high-bridged. His faced seemed perfect, as if there wasn't a single flaw to be found. He wore a royal blue robe that also went down to his ankles, and on top of it was a full plate mail, shining as bright as the old man's armor. He had a sword with him, a long one and behind his back was a pair of wings; the main bone of the wing was outlined in blue while the body was a mixture of white and silver. The young man kneeled before his master as soon as he was able to collect himself.

"Yes my sovereign" he said.

"The tides have gone ill. The time has finally come for you to show me what all these years of training under my guidance had done to you." The old man started.

"I have a task for you; you are to seek a very old friend, Albus Dumbledore. He is a wizard," he continued. "But" the young man interrupted. "It goes against our rules! We swore that after the great war, we'd never associate ourselves with the land dwellers!" The old man gave his pupil a brief smile, acknowledging the you man's obedience to the rules laid down for the safety of their kin. "Rules… the safety of everyone in this world we live in is in peril. Rules cannot be broken, but can be bent if need be. My old friend had informed me that he needs our aid because the Dark Lord has risen to power once more. Your other task is to get acquainted with this boy that he has told me of. One that carries the same blood that goes through our veins. Your blood to be precise.," he said.

"He's a-" Elijah said before getting cut of by the old man. "a dragoon, yes. Apparently, he is the descendant of you're brother, Wraife," said the old man said as Elijah's blue eyes grew big in shock. "Can this really be so…" he mumbled astonished" "but… Wraife only had a human lover! A witch! He's a pureblood! But is he an immortal like us?"he asked. "I'm afraid not, Elijah, he is a mixture of a wizard folk, a non-magic folk, and a dragoon. Your task is to help this young one to awaken his untapped abilities for him to be able to fulfill the prophecy." The old man said.

"Yes my lord," he replied as he knelt on his right knee. "well, go on now, tell Albus that Gaius Octavius sent you and do send him my regards," he said as he looked down on him. "very well, I shall summon you to their plane and directly to Ablus' location. May the speed of our ancestors be with you" he finally said and with that he raised his right arm and placed it to Elijah's left shoulder as he recited an incantation with a very low voice that was blended with other tone of voice making it sound a bit godly _"Incantus virtum, imperum!"_ Octavius bellowed. And with that, Elijah was gone with a blink of an eye.

_o Meanwhile inside Professor Dumbledore's office o_

It was quiet inside the office. Professor Dumbledore was sitting in his chair writing a note and at the same time muttering some words when a gust of wind whirled in front of his table. "Ah, and so my friend has heard my call!" he said in a relieved tone as he fixed his moon shaped eye glasses. The wind was soon gone and a man stood in front of Professor Dumbledore.

"You must be Elijah, am I correct?" he inquired as he beamed at the man in front of him. "Yes I am sir, I was sent by my lord, Gaius Octavius on a task to aid you." Elijah replied smiling a bit towards Professor Dumbledore.

"Ahh, I thought Octavius would be able to come, sad though," Dumbledore said as his smile lessened but smiled broader again.

"Anyway, I have asked Octavius for aid because it has come to my attention that Harry Potter; the boy that is under my guidance carries the blood of a dragoon," he stared. "You're task is to help him awaken this gift and help him control and nurture his gifts. Therefore, I am assigning you as a student and you shall have to hide your identity as a transferee from another school, Dumstrang. Your name will be Elijah Austin. You will have to be sorted into a house during the Feast along with the first years." He finally said as he eyed Elijah as if he was asking if he had questions.

"How can I be so sure that I won't get noticed that I'm a dragoon?" he asked.

"Well, I can't say that you won't get noticed because sooner or later, Harry will find out, he's a very cunning young man, Elijah" Professor Dumbledore replied while smiling. "There is one more favor that I would like to ask you…." Professor Dumbledore trailed.

_oMeanwhile…o_

A boy sat by the window. He gazed into the starless night sky blankly. His eyes, which used to be lively and inviting, was now clogged with all sorts of emotion- grief, anger, pain, sadness, loneliness. The events of the previous term were still fresh in his mind. The break-up, the death of his godfather, Sirius… thoughts kept swirling about in his mind day in and day out, making him get more and more depressed as each day passes.

With all the frustration he could muster, he threw one of his books at the door of his room, making it create a loud bang on the door as he rammed his fist to the floor while he slumped down of the floor, his back relaxing on the wall.

"BOY! WOULD YOU KEEP IT DOWN! OR ELSE I'LL COME UP THERE AND MAKE YOU!" a man bellowed outside his room. Harry couldn't hear the growling and bellowing of his uncle as everything around him seemed all too distant. He was lost in his thoughts. Guilt-struck and depressed, he continued to wallow in his thoughts.

"Why do I have to act hero all the time?" he muttered to himself. Harry looked very distraught. He hasn't eaten for weeks, he hasn't owled any of his friends even though they sent him letters trying to ask if he's ok. Suddenly he remembered something.

'_Crap! If they don't hear anything from me in a week, they'll come rushing here!'_ This thought made Harry's mind react in a grim way. He imagined seeing his Aunt and Uncle under a full body bind spell and his cousin, Dudley having another pig's tail.

Just as he was thinking of this he heard a loud crack from downstairs…

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING HERE IN MY HOUSE?!" he heard his uncle roar in a mix of anger and fear. Harry quickly ran to the door and emerged downstairs and found Moody, Tonks, Lupin and Mrs. Weasley and two hooded figures in the front door.

"We have come to take Harry for the rest of the summer because we're beginning to get worried that he isn't getting much care from you," Lupin said trying to control his emotions while keeping his face straight.

"GO AHEAD THEN! GO TAKE THAT FREAKY BOY WITH YOU! WE DIDN'T WANT HIM HERE ANYWAY!" Uncle Vernon growled. Mrs. Weasley was able to notice Harry who was frozen in the middle of the stairway watching the whole encounter intently.

"Harry, dear! Over here! We've come to take you with us!" Mrs. Weasley cried while approaching Harry. "Don't you dare do anything silly to prevent us from getting Potter or else you, your wife and your silly kid will pay! Tonks, get Harry's things. Hurry!" Moody growled while keeping his glare on Uncle Vernon's frightened face.

As soon as everyone was ready, Mrs. Weasley took out a portkey from her robes and told everyone to take hold of it. Soon enough they were in front of The Burrow.

"Professor,-" Harry started as he lightly nudged Professor Lupin on the shoulders. "who are the two hooded figures?" Lupin stared at him for a while as if he couldn't spit a single word.

"Well.. there's no more point in delaying this since they were the once who insisted in coming with us to get you… Lily, James, you can take your hoods of now…" he trailed of as the two hooded figures took of their hoods; one was a male with brilliant blue eyes and an untidy jet black hair, just like Harry's. And the other had brilliant emerald green eyes and long red hair.

Harry was left dumbfounded. He didn't know what to say. He felt like things went from worst to the best. He never thought that this would happen as the two figures stood in front of him alive and well. "B-b-but... it can't be… how?" those were the only words that he was able to say as he stood gaping and trying to hold back tears which he failed to.

"Its true son, we're back," Lily told Harry, smiling. "I know it's hard to believe but in due time you'll know the explanation." James said with big smile on his face.

"All we could say right now is that we are so happy that we are given another chance to be with you again and fill the void that we left you years ago," Lily added as though her voice was cracking up in tears.

Harry couldn't handle it anymore, he felt as if his whole world was brightening up for a new day from a very terrible and disastrous storm. He felt the sudden urge to run up to his parents and cry to them. He tried to compose himself but he failed again. He ran up to his parents and flung his arms around them both.

"Mum! Dad! Its… it's… so… I can't describe how I feel right now!" Harry said as he gave up in holding up his tears and cried his heart out in happiness.  
"I know son. Believe me, your mum and I got very ecstatic when we found ourselves here again, alive and kicking!" James said as he placed an arm around Harry and so did Lily.

"Son, I promise you, we'll never leave you like that again. We'll start a new life again. This time, the three of us will share every pain and pleasure we encounter in life." Lily told Harry as she also broke into tears.

_oThe Following Dayo_

Harry, Lily, and James stayed in the Burrow for the rest of the night because Lupin informed them that their old house; Godric's Hollow is still under renovation for their coming.

Lily and James stayed in a guest room while Harry stayed in Ron's room where Ron bombarded him with tons of questions.

"Harry! I'm so happy for you, at least now you have more people to talk to about problems! You have your parents now! Even though Sir-" Ron cut himself off remembering it was a painful memory for Harry seeing his own godfather dying in front of him.

"It's okay Ron; I know that somehow, I'll be able to bring back Sirius. I mean, mum and dad got resurrected from the dead. And Sirius isn't an exception. Right?" Harry explains as Ron's face started to lighten up.

"Yeah! I forgot that… But how did this happen in the first place?" Ron asked Harry quizzically. "For now, I don't know, but I swear that I will find a way. My parents even told me that in due time I will get an explanation." Harry said reassuringly to Ron.

"Harry, there's one more thing though. I know I'm in no place to say this but… what happens to you and Cho?" Ron asked skeptically as if he was surveying Harry's face for emotions. Harry shrugged at the mention of her name and said "What am I supposed to do? I mean, last year, when were together for more than five minutes, we fight our heads off!" Harry exclaimed which almost made Ron jump.

"Alright mate! I get your point! But still, doesn't she ever cross your mind?" Ron asked again looking at Harry, this time, he was sure that Harry was trying hard not to look red.

"Sometimes maybe… But my blood just blood just boils up sometimes we're together… I don't even know if she still fancies me… or even considers me as a friend," Harry trailed of looking as if he wanted a subject change. But Ron wanted to ask something else. He had so say it…

"Harry….-"His voice trailed off. "Do you… still uhm… you know? Like her?" he asked hoping that Harry won't kill him for asking that question. Much to his relief, he didn't.

"I…- honestly… don't know…-"he trailed off. And as if on queue, a tawny old knocked the window of Ron's room.

"That's yours Ron." Harry said while staring at the owl.

"Nope I don't think so, Hermione's here, you and Hermione are the only one I owl and the only one's I get owls from!" Ron said to Harry and suddenly, Ron had a thought.

"What if it's from… no… how could that be? But there's a possibility!" Ron wondered out loud.

Harry decided to be the one to grab the owl since Ron doesn't want to. His eyes grew big when he opened the letter and saw the sender.

"Merlin's beard…" he muttered in surprise making Ron quite intrigued enough to make him snatch the letter from Harry. His eyes too grew big.

It was from Cho Chang.

"She's quite aggressive for a girl you know…" Ron said while smirking towards Harry.

"Shut up Ron!" Harry managed to say as he grabbed the letter back for him to read.

_Harry,_

_How are you? I know that you're blood's probably boiling while you're reading this letter, but, hear me out. I know we ended the previous year on a bad note, and that just really disturbs me. If you'd allow it though, I just want to set things straight so that things would be normal. I'd understand if you're still furious and wouldn't want anything to do with me. But I do hope you find it in your heart to forgive me. There's so much more about you I'd want to learn about, I know there's more to what they say "the boy who lived" is, and I intend to know that. Even only as a friend. I do hope you think this over, I'll be waiting for your decision until then._

_Cho_

"Wow…" that was all Harry could say.


	2. Advices, Explanations, Reconciliations,

**Chapter Two: Advices, Explanations, Reconciliations, and… Unexpected Events?**

Harry was dumbfounded when he read the letter. He re-read it a couple of times more just to make sure.

"What's it say, mate?" Ron asked Harry as if he was trying to hide his smirk and keeping a serious face with concern in his eyes.

"She- she wants to clear things up and start over new," Harry trailed of seemingly… he was in shock.

"Well? Are you going to write back? Although watch out for her nasty little friend, Marietta a.k.a: Little Miss Sneak! Haha…ha…ha?" Ron cracked as if he was trying to lighten Harry's mood but failed.

"I need professional advice…" Harry muttered to himself but Ron heard him. "C'mon, lets go downstairs, I need to talk to dad." He said, and with that, they went down.

It was 6:00 am. Harry's parents, and Ron's parents were the only ones downstairs. They eyed both Ron and Harry as they went downstairs.

"Now that's a rare sight! This day must be special indeed!" James said still having a big smile on his face.

"Special indeed! For Harry that is. He got a letter from his- OOF! That hurts mate!" before Ron could finish his statement, Harry gave him a nudge on the ribs and hissed "Shut it Ron!"

"Well, well, well! Who could be the one writing our son Lily?" James said playfully as Lily just gave him a smile and continued to talk with Mrs. Weasley.

"Actually, dad, that's what I want to talk to you about… could we go somewhere?" Harry asked, idly looking from his mom to Ron, all looking mysteriously at him.

"Hah! That's my boy! C'mere, lets talk outside." James said playfully at Harry giving him a tap on the shoulder. _'Well, well, well, let's see what this kid's gotten into'_ James thought quizzically.

They went out to the garden of the burrow. They felt quite helpful so decided to de-gnome the gardens a bit just to keep them busy.

"What is it Harry?" James started as the awkward silence was broken.

"Well… last year… I… had an… uhm… you know?" James' face kept showing an innocent reaction, pretending that he had nothing to do with it. "Okay fine then… I went out with someone but it ended bad! Now, here she sends me a letter, wanting to set things straight and start all over- as friends…" Harry blurted out carefully examining his father for signs of incoming laughter.

"Wow… you're maturing faster than I did! I started dating when I was in seventh grade!" James said cheerfully but quickly changed back the subject as Harry gave him an 'I-knew-that-dad-and-that's-not-my-point' look.

James had a thoughtful look as he pondered on the situation "Do you still like her?" James asked intently while staring into Harry's emerald green eyes.

"I… dunno… I guess I still do… but sometime she just gets into my nerves. And she cries a lot! Plus I heard that she's going out with someone. So why write me in the fist place? Right?" Harry said to his father.

"Well you see Harry, crying is a girl's way of relieving her problems. I dunno how or why but it releases the weight on their shoulders somehow. All you could do when that happens is to comfort her. Sympathize with her. And also, maybe she's trying to fill out the void that you left when you two stopped dating. How long have you been dating anyways?" James asked.

Harry told his father everything about him and Cho. From the first time they met till their row near the Great Hall. It seemed like hours when he stopped speaking as he could see through the window that Hermione and the rest of the Weasley brothers have already come down.

"Well Harry, I think you should talk to her. I mean, maybe she's changed her habits. You'll never know Harry. Make your move before it's too late. Don't let what happened to you during your fourth year!" James encouraged Harry.

"Maybe I will… maybe I will…" Harry said as he slowly started to grin.

"C'mon, let's go in, there all downstairs already." James told Harry as he patted him on the back.

They went inside the house and as expected, Ron and Hermione bombarded Harry with questions.

"Hey! It's just a little father and son talk! No need in interrogating me!" Harry said trying to keep himself from laughing but failed miserably.

"What's so funny Harry James Potter?" Hermione said as if she was on the verge of getting severely annoyed.

"Well… it's just that you and Ron look like a worried mom and dad. To be short, you look like a married couple!" Harry managed to say this before Ron and Hermione tackled him and tickled him from everywhere mercilessly until all of them fell to the ground.

"Well if it isn't true then why did you go redder than a tomato, dear ickle-Roniekins?" Fred teased as Ron and Hermione blushed more furious.

"Whoa! Don't tell me it IS true?! Wow! Our little ickle-Ronniekins' growing up! Sure is a milestone!" George added and with that everyone in the room burst into laughter. Well, except for Ron and Hermione that is!

"Breakfast everyone!" Mrs. Weasley called as all of them went to the kitchen to grab a bite.

It was a very nice day for everyone. A good day for a fresh start; they all sat there, talking about quidditch, Hogwarts days, and other loads of stuff. Mr. Weasley had already filled Lily and James in all the information he knew especially about the Order of the Phoenix.

"So, James, are you still going to be an auror or are you considering another job?" Mrs. Weasly asked.

"Well, I think I'll stick with my job as an auror. A lot of things still has to be done and with Voldemort back in power, I have to exert more effort in helping the Ministry and the Order." James said.

"Does the Ministry know that both of you are already alive again?" Mrs. Weasley asked again. This time, she eyed Harry.

"Dumbledore said he'll take care of that. Since Fudge gave up in arguing with him since he was proven gravely wrong when he didn't believe Voldemort was back into power." James said as some of the people in the room flinched a bit.

"Dad, I was wondering, when will I get that explanation? You know, about how you and mom…" Harry trailed off, hoping that his dad got his point.

"Well… I suppose I can spill some of the beans. I can only tell you bits and pieces. Dumbledore on the other hand knows the whole story." James said as he looked over to Lily for her confirmation and she gave him a nod.

"Alright then… Harry, have you ever heard of dragoons?" James started. Everyone in the room was now looking at James and listening intently to what he's saying.

"They are an ancient race that's said to be dragon knights, somewhat like protectors of all races. They have powers beyond imagination." Hermione cut in.

"Right. Dumbledore happened to know someone whom he had some across to during his youth. This friend of his, Gaius Octavius I believe-" James continued when he was cut in by Hermione again.

"You mean the elder of all dragoons? He's supposedly someone like Dumbledore to their race, all powerful and such." Hermione said in awe.

"Correct again. As I was saying, Dumbledore asked aid from him and he sent his protégé, Dumbledore refused to give me his name though. But my point is, one of the gifts that a dragoon has is the ability to bring back the dead. But they can only do it twice. Since if they do it more than twice, it'll drain all of their life force and they shall perish." James continued. Everyone else in the room were utterly surprised with this discovery they have heard.

"As I was saying, Octavius' protégé, was the one who is responsible for our resurrection. For now, that's all I could say." James said as he eyed everyone if they had questions.

"But... Does that mean that dragoons are immortals or something? I mean, that guy- Ronus, he met Dumbledore, and Dumbledore is just I dunno, around a hundred years old." Fred asked.

"Maybe so… I for one don't know. Let's ask Dumbledore when he gets here. He said he'll drop by to check up on how things are doing." James replied to Fred whose face is looking quite excited.

Just then, owls appeared from the windows. Harry, Ron and Hemione went to get them. Apparently, the olws were the requirements for their 6th year and their owl results and the last one was from Professor Dumbledore addressed to Harry's father.

"Mr. Potter this is for you, it's from Dumbledore, Harry, this one's yours." Ron said while giving the letters to both of them.

"Whoa! I got a bloody 8! Haha!" Ron shouted as his mom and dad gave him a hug for his job well done.

"I got 12! I'm so happy!" Hermione squeaked. Everyone expected this from her but still everyone congratulated her for her achievement.

"So, Harry, how many did you get? I got 9 back then and your mum got 12 also." James told Harry. Harry looked a bit speechless then he passed the letter to his father and his father's eyes grew big and he Harry quite a tap on the back and said "11! Not bad at all Harry! Not bad at all!"

"Wow Harry! I never knew you hated Umbridge that much to make you study that hard!" Fred exclaimed. Harry saw George nod in agreement of his statement.

"Well actually, I didn't really have anything to do back then. I was banned from quiddtich, the D.A was caught. I mean, if I can't face Umbridge like I did to the others, I might as well get back at her with studies." Harry explained seeing his mum give him a proud smile.

After hearing Harry's story, James opened the note that he had received from Professor Dumbledore. He groaned a bit after reading the letter. Everyone's attention was on him, trying to figure out why he groaned.

"He won't come today. He said that he'll need to talk to me, Lily and Harry after the Opening Feast in Hogwarts." James explained.

"So you'll come with us on the train then?" Harry asked with a look of intrigue in his face.

"Well I think we'll just apparate outside Hogwarts. I really don't like long journeys you know. And besides, it's quite fun to walk outside, right Lily?" James said as he eyed Lily for agreement.

"Ohhh James Potter! You never learn don't you? Always adventurous…" Lily trailed off as the rest of them gave quite a hearty laugh with the scene.

The next day, all of the residents in the burrow had to wake up early. They were supposed to go to Diagon Alley to buy the requirements for the next school year. As they all went down to breakfast. Nearly all of them barely talked. Everyone seemed quite sleepy.

After having their breakfast in silence, they went to the living room and each of them took turns in getting floo powder and stepping through the fire place each one saying "Diagon Alley" out loud.

As they were all in Diagon Alley, Harry, Lily and James parted from the rest of the Weasleys and Hermione.

"Well, see you later Molly, Arthur, we'll just have to make some transactions in Gringots about our vault." Lily informed the couple as they parted from the group.

As Harry and his parents made their way to Gringots, he felt a light tap on his shoulders. At first he didn't mind it; he thought it was just another passer-by that accidentally tapped him. But this time, someone pulled his sleeve. Harry was utterly shocked. Tongue-tied and frozen stiff to see who was in front of him when he turned around.

None other than Cho Chang.

Harry scrambled mentally to say something- anything for that matter. "I think we'll be fine by ourselves, Harry. You go on and have some fun!" James said with a wink, immediately realizing the situation taking place. His mother though, was quite perplexed.

"Alright, we'll just see then inside Madam Malkin's. Alright with you?" James asked as he nudged Harry playfully as he saw Cho who was behind Harry.

"Fine with me. Oh, uhm… this… is… er… Cho… Cho Chang," Harry said as he gestured Cho to say hi to his parents.

Cho on the other hand, who was wide eyed to see Harry's parents alive and well again suddenly snapped back to reality as she saw Harry's gestures.

"Er.. hello… Pleased to meet you!" That was all she could manage to say. Unfortunately, she was still under shock that's why she wasn't able to reply in much more 'normal' manner.

"Hello there dear, I think we'll see you both later?" Lily said as she beamed towards Cho.

"Er… I guess so… " Cho replied as she looked at Harry for some help. "We'll se you later then mum, dad…" Harry cut in as he saw Cho's look on face. Breaking the awkward atmosphere that was building up.

"Alrighty then!" James replied as he and Lily went inside Gringots.

Harry and Cho were left alone together in the middle of the street packed with a large crowd of wizard and witches alike buying their things at Diagon Alley. Harry was the one who broke the silence between them.

"So… er… do…you… want to go some place… else?" Harry stuttered as he tried to look up into Cho's eyes. _'Merlin's beard! Why am I feeling like I have butterflies in my stomach! Please Harry! Don't mess up again'_ Harry thought to himself.

"Alright, Potter," she laughed "… I mean, wherever you lead me" Cho replied as she was trying to shake of her nervousness.

"How about the ice cream parlor then? C'mon I'll treat you," Harry said as he lead he way and gestured Cho to follow her; which she did.

As soon as they reached the ice cream parlor, Harry ordered two ice creams,; one for him and one for Cho. They took a seat, and yet again, there was another awkward silence between them.

"So… I s'ppose you're wondering why my parents are alive. Right?" Harry broke the silence as he felt is was starting to get unhealthy.

"Yeah… I mean, aren't they supposed to be…" Cho trailed off as she didn't know how to put what she wanted to say in words where Harry won't find it quite offensive. At the same time as she was about to continue, Harry cut in. "Dead? Yeah I know it's shocking, believe me, my reaction was worse than yours when I first laid eyes on them back at Ron's house; the burrow."

"But- how did it happen? I mean, them being alive," Cho asked, she was feeling more relaxed and as the tension between her and Harry slowly subsided. She felt as if she was talking to someone she hasn't seen for ages. _'Talking to Harry isn't bad at all, well, unlike last year, that is,'_ Cho thought cheerfully to herself.

"Well you see, they had a little help from some people who had been really prominent a long time ago," Harry started cryptically as Cho gave him a frustrated scowl. "Potter, don't make this hard enough!" she complained as she continued to search her mind for answers.

"Alright, I'll give you a hint. Think of dragons" he started

"Yeah. Then? What's their connection to that? They can't really use their magic to help people unless…" she trailed off as her eyes slowly widened in gradual realization as the truth started to come clearer to you.

"You're getting near, go on! I'm gonna let you answer the one-million galleon question," he offered her as she seemed more than willing to conclude the mystery.

"Dragoons!" she cheered triumphantly, apparently quite proud with her new found discovery. "Well, that sure proves why the hat placed you in Ravenclaw," Harry mused nonchalantly as he relaxed back at his chair. Before he could utter another word, she followed up her statement.

"I've read about them before! They were supposed to be the protector of all races. They knew magic unknown to all of us and possessed gifts others don't!" Cho said as if a light bulb suddenly blinked 'on' on top of her head.

"Yep, I never knew you were such a bookworm Cho!" Harry sardonically joked as Cho playfully slapped his arm. Seeing this, Harry and Cho blushed furiously and looked at opposite directions. Cho suddenly played with her feet while Harry rumpled his hair.

"Er… As I was saying… uhm the dragoons were supposed to be extinct today. But somehow, there were some who survived. One of them was Professor Dumbledore's old friend, Octavius, who happens to be somewhat the elder of the dragoons. Dumbledore asked him for help as soon as he returned to Hogwarts after the encounter with Voldemort." Harry continued as she saw Cho flinch when he said Voldemort's name.

"But that doesn't explain anything! I mean, what does the dragoons have to do with your parents being alive again?" Cho asked Harry quizzically. Harry was sure that Cho is getting more and more interested by the moment so he continued.

"I was getting to that, Chang! Geez! Some people!" Harry joked again, this time, they only giggled. No more unexpected contact between them. "well, ehrm, one of the gifts that a dragoon possesses is the gift of resurrection. But a dragoon can only perform this twice and if he goes beyond the limit; he dies, along with the other ones he resurrected." Harry continued as he eyed Cho for comments. "Wow. I mean ever since I've read about them I tried to find out more about them but there was just too little information about them. Maybe I should stick with you Harry! You seem to have a lot of resources!" Cho joked. "Well I only know bits and pieces, although I'm going to ask Dumbledore myself when we get to Hogwarts." Harry said in a matter-of-factly voice_ 'Geez! I never thought I could sound like Hermione!'_ Harry thought.

Harry and Cho spent most of the time talking, they sounded like to very close friends who hasn't seen each other for decades and accidentally seeing each other. They were cracking jokes, telling stories and teasing each other until…

"Well, well, well! If it isn't the most famous Pothead! How's summer without your favorite BLACK fluffy dog Potter boy? Oh Chang! I never thought you'd stoop that LOW!" sneered a guy around Harry's age, he had a long sleek whitish blond hair. It was no other than Draco Malfoy. He purposely exaggerated the word black in his hope that Harry would retaliate.

"Ugh! Bugger off Malfoy, get a life or something! Don't you have anything else to do? Or are you just trying to find some time for a break from crying about daddy who was sent to Azkaban?" Harry sneered back sarcastically with his own imitation of Malfoy's sneer. "I could stoop this low Malfoy, but I'll never stoop as low as you are in!" growled Cho.

"You'll pay for that Potter! AS I speak, my father and the rest of the death eaters are on their way here. I'm very pleased to say that ALL the dementors are under the Dark Lord's command now Potter!" Malfoy exclaimed to Harry in a somewhat victorious tone. Just as he stopped from speaking, a loud bang was heard from the streets and people started running everywhere, screaming. Harry, who was distracted by the sudden commotion noticed that Malfoy was already nowhere to be seen.

"That git! He'll pay for that-" Harry cut of a she saw Cho on the verge of tears. "NO!!" she cried out loud as she ran outside the ice cream parlor. Harry tore after her and followed her line of vision. Harry's eyes froze at the image he saw; two Asian adults, whom he believed as Cho's parents were screaming in pain. Before he knew it, two green sparks stuck them dead center on their chests. As if on queue, he grabbed hold of Cho so she won't go any nearer from the sight. "Cho! Wait you can't go there! They'll see you! Cho! Don't!" Harry cried to Cho.

Cho on the other hand, was lost in her mind. She didn't know what to say, she was the only child and she didn't know what to do. Her parents were just hit by the Killing Curse. She was utterly shocked with the scene she saw. She felt Harry's arms wrapped around her, she couldn't move. "Cho don't!" That was all she could understand from Harry's words. She fell on her knees; crying her heart out. "We have to escape, we-" Harry whispered to her but Harry was cut off when he saw someone in front of them, with long whitish blond hair, just like Draco Malfoy's. There was no doubt who it was; Lucius Malfoy. "Well, Potter we meet again! How pleasant it is to see you. Oh! What do we have here! The only offspring of the Changs! Let's see if you also have that glass breaking scream like your mother had! _Crucio!_" With a blink of an eye, Cho was screaming in pain.

Harry was torn with the image before him; Cho was screaming in pain while Lucius Malfoy was laughing at her. He couldn't take it anymore. All his emotions were overflowing his. It was too overwhelming. He had to let it all out.

"AAHH!" He screamed out loud as a flash of yellow, white and read light came out of him. His eyes were lit up in white and he felt his body was given more extra padding. He felt like he could crush anyone. A surge of adrenaline went to Harry. He saw Lucius gape at him with fear in his eyes.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Lucius cried. Harry felt something in right his hand. It was a sword with and inscription near its gilt _'Godric Gryffindor'_ it says. He felt his body move on its one as his right arm raised itself and slashed the jet spark colored green in half. Harry couldn't believe his eyes. So did Lucius. He was supposed to be dead. The Killing curse was supposed to be unblockable.

"It can't be! NO! We will meet again Potter!" growled Malfoy. With a pop, he was gone. Harry could believe what just happened; he was frozen at the moment till he heard a weak, gentle voice call out his name.

"H-harry…" Cho's voice came. Harry immediately looked down and saw Cho, she looked very weak. H e carried her and ran to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Thankfully, as he went inside, he saw the whole Weasley family with Hermione and his parents.

"DAD! I need help here! She was hit by the Cruciatus Curse!" Harry called out as everyone rushed toward him. "Let her lay down on the couch Harry. There's nothing much we could do now, lets wait. Dumbledore's on his way. Just let her rest first," James said. This was the first time he saw his father look serious.

"HARRY!" Ron and Hermione dashed and both game him a bear hug. "We were worried sick! We tried to look for you but you were out of sight!" Hermione said as her voice started to crack up.

Just then the wall in font of them crashed as they saw a winged figure crash out from nowhere. "BE GONE!" the winged figure roared as he sliced a death eater in two and exploded into millions of sprites. The winged figure landed on his feet and began to face them. Harry and the others made held up their wands, ready to shoot. Just as then, Professor Dumbledore came from nowhere to in font of them.

"Put your wands down. He is one of us" Professor Dumbledore said calmly. He eyed everyone and he saw Cho lying unconsciously on the couch.

"I can see that we got here quite late. A lot of damages had been done but as far as the members of the Order is concerned, there were no casualties. Just as he said that, Lupin, Tonks, Moody, Kingsley and the other members of the Order came in. All looked quite tired but their eyes widened when they saw the winged figure before them.

"Ah! I forgot to introduce you to my friend over here" Professor Dumbledore said.

"His name is Elijah,"

"and he is a dragoon"


	3. Revelations and Uncovering the Truth

**Chapter Three: Revelations and Uncovering the Truth **

Everybody in the room couldn't believe their ears. Harry felt a cold drop of sweat brush through his cheeks. He felt a prickly sensation from deep inside of him. Something similar to a water heater that's stuck in an ice cap. At first it was weak, then the feeling came stronger. The strange thing is, Harry didn't really feel weak because of this, instead he was beginning to feel again what he felt earlier; like things around him are somewhat under his command.

Then he saw Elijah, the dragoon turned around and stared at him. Finally the tingling feeling inside of him burst out. He couldn't hold it any longer. The same jets of light came out from him. Everyone else jumped in surprise when they saw Harry. Ron was already gaping when they saw what was happening; Harry's body started to rotate, his eyes were closed, then and overpowering white light covered him.

"What's happening to our son?!" James yelled at Professor Dumbledore. "Relax James. It's nothing bad, you shall see when he settles down" Professor Dumbledore said reassuringly as he eyed both Lily and James who looked extremely worried.

The white light suddenly subsided. Harry felt like his body was a whole lot more lighter. He could feel that something was wrapped around his body. Everyone gasped at Harry. He slowly opened his eyes. When he opened his eyes, there was another blinding light that came, this time it was from Harry's eyes. After a few seconds, the light subsided. Harry took a look at himself at the nearest mirror. He was wearing a sliver at black full plate mail; it had shoulder caps that extended about 2 meters from his shoulders. He also had armor around his thighs which was also colored in silver and black. And underneath the armor, he wore a black-colored robe.

"What… How did this happen? Harry asked everyone.

"You are a dragoon, Harry," Replied Elijah "Apparently, I cannot give you all the answers, but I do guarantee you that Elijah can enlighten you. I was hoping that we could delay this a bit but I think that when things like these come, you will never be able to avoid or delay them, " Dumbledore said. "as for Ms. Chang, may I ask Lily and James to come with me to the other room," Dumbledore said.

"How?" asked Harry as he turned to Elijah for an answer.

"The blood in you was awakened. It responded to my blood when we had eye-contact. It's like magnet magnetizing metal," Elijah tried to explain.

"But… that means my dad is one too? Or my mom?" Harry asked. As mystified as he is, he was eager for answers with this new discovey.

"No Harry. You are a half blood. The dragoon, which is your ancestor; Wraife married a magic-folk and gave birth to Godric Gryffindor. Along his long line of descendants was you and your father. In this case, the dragoon blood chooses a worthy descendant for it abilities. That means, the blood of the dragoon chose you." Elijah explained to Harry.

"As for the moment, you have awakened your dragoon blood, but you are still unable to control it. My task here is to help you unleash those gifts of yours," Elijah continued.

"Does that mean… that I'm an immortal?" Harry hesitantly asked Elijah.

"You are a half blood, thus there advantages and disadvantages. For example, is mortality, since you are a half blood, you are still mortal, but you are able to endure more things than other normal mortals do. An example of which is when that death eater fired the Killing Curse on you, you were able to destroy the spell in two. You are immune to simple spells and resistant to advanced spells. You are also capable of learning ancient magic in which if a normal wizard attempts to learn such, he would end up insane." Elijah continued. Hermione gasped when she heard this statement while Ron was still in awe.

"You however will be unable to turn into an animagus, but you will be able to call upon dragons" Elijah added as he saw Harry's disappointed face when he heard that he can't be an animagus.

"Wicked!" Harry exclaimed. "But how will I be able to learn all these?" Harry asked. "You already know them Harry, you'll just have to master it. Think hard Harry, and you will find the answers for all your questions in your mind," Elijah told Harry.

Harry couldn't quite understand what Elijah was trying to say. He asked himself _'What am I supposed to do next?'_

"I know it is hard, Harry. I will be joining you in Hogwarts, I shall teach you all I know, for now, you need some rest. Relax a bit and you'll be back in your normal form. We'll talk tomorrow. Bye for now. It was a pleasure meeting you," Elijah said, he smiled and vanished again into thin air. "Neat trick" Harry muttered as he saw the sprites vanish also.

"What happens next?" Harry asked everyone again.

"We wait for Professor Dumbledore," Lupin replied to Harry. It seems that the Order was caught off guard when the death eaters came. It was a good thing that even if they were quite late, Dumbledore and Elijah came. But still, the damage was done, one of these was Cho's parents. _'Cho'_ thought Harry. Harry glanced at her, he noticed that her eyes were starting to open up. He didn't know why but when his brain had already processed what he saw, he immediately went to Cho's side.

"Hey, You ok?" Harry asked Cho as she gingerly sat up. "I'm quite alright. My back hurts though" Cho replied. "I'm sorry Cho," Harry said while staring down on the floor. "For what?" she asked as she looked at Harry. "I couldn't do anything to…save…your…parents," Harry trailed off. He was surprised as he felt Cho's hand on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault Harry. You're not the one held responsible for their death. I-its those… those horrible… those death eaters! And that Malfoy!" Cho trail off she started crying. Harry tried to ease her pain. He doesn't know what to do, he looked around for anyone, but it seems they've gone out to give them both privacy. He didn't know what came to him but the next thing he knew was that he has hugging Cho. He could smell her scent, the aroma of her perfume, the softness of her skin, the smoothness of her hair. Harry found himself longing for this feeling. He broke the hug stared back at the floor noticing that he was all red. Cho on the other hand smiled a bit when he did this. "Thanks Harry," Cho whispered to him. Harry looked up and stared at Cho, she was smiling at him. "That thing… you just did… somehow it makes me feel more comfortable," Cho explained to Harry. "Oh, that," Harry stuttered. _'Think Harry! Think!'_ he said to himself. "Dumbledore told us you'd stay at our house for the rest of the summer," Harry told Cho about the events that happened while she was unconscious. She was very tentative when Harry got to the part about dragoons. She seemed very fascinated when she heard that Harry was part dragoon. "Wow Harry! I envy you, you know. I mean, I wonder how it is to fly like dragoons do… with wings," Cho told Harry. It seems that Cho has lightened up a bit when he told her about the dragoons.

"Well if ever I learn how, I promise I'll take you for a ride!" Harry said.

Just then, Lily and James went inside and went to Harry and Cho.

"Cho dear, you're going to have to stay with us for the rest of the summer, we've already taken care of your stuff. We'll use a portkey on the way back home. Harry just tell us when you guys are ready. Okay?" Lily said to them while smiling. "You two are going to share one room for a while. So no smooching! Okay?" James said as he nudged Harry on the ribs when he said that they were to be room mates.

"I'll tell everyone to come in, Dumbledore has an announcement," Lily said as she walked out of the room. Soon enough, everyone was back inside of the room and Dumbledore went in also.

"Now that this event had already took place, I advice all of you to good care of each other. Constant vigilance is also an advice. Voldemort is in full form, he has amassed a large group of death eaters. The Order also has acquired a lot of new members and will be fighting along side with the aurors. We must now let Voldemort do anymore harm. By this, I strongly advice all of you not to wander alone especially at night. That is all for now. I shall see you at Hogwarts then," Dumbledore eyed Harry, Cho and the rest of the Hogwarts returnees then apparated.

"We shall be leaving then, we'll see you at King's Cross on the 1st," James said to everyone. "Alright then, take care of yourselves!" Lupin said as he handed the portkey to James.

_oInside Godric's Hollowo_

The house, or should we say manor, was very magnificent. It had lots of very expensive furniture's, a lot of priceless paintings and sculptures. One of the pictures that was hung there was a picture of Lily and James of their wedding day as Harry noticed. He knew almost everyone in the picture; his parents, Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Apparently, at that time, Peter still wasn't a death eater.

"I think dinner is ready, shall we?" James asked them as he led the way to the dinner hall. All of them gave hearty laughs seeing James' great appetite for food. This seemed to help lighten everyone's spirits because of what happened earlier as Diagon Alley.

As soon as they finished eating, they went up to their bedrooms. Lily and James bid Harry and Cho 'goodnight" as they made their way to the Master's Bedroom. Harry and Cho however made their way to Harry's room. Much to Harry and Cho's surprise, Harry's room was quite large. There was a divider between the two beds while at the opposite corner of the two beds was a big fluffy couch near a fireplace. Books can also be found in a bookshelf near the couch.

"Quite a room Harry. I'm…… impressed," Cho commented to Harry.

"Amen," Harry said while nodding in agreement. "Although this is the first time I've ever been here," Harry said.

"Well that explains the look on your face! Anyways, do you feel sleepy or do you still want to sit on the couch for a while?" Cho asked him as she smiled towards him.

"Well, now that you said that, I think I'm not sleepy yet. So, why not?" Harry replied as he giggled a bit.

Harry and Cho talked for quite a while on the couch. Again they spent their time telling stories and such. Then there was silence between them. This time, it was rather peaceful than awkward.

"Harry…" Cho trailed of as she sat a the opposite end of the couch while Harry was on the other side.

"Yep?"

"I never got a chance to say sorry,"

"For what?"

"About last year,"

"Oh that," "I-i-it's ok you know. I mean I had my own share of faults,"

"Oh,"

"Sorry,"

"Yeah, it's fine with me too"

Again the silence felt between them. Before anything else could happen, Cho broke the ice.

"I'm going to sleep now, g'night, Harry," Cho said as she motioned to stand up. Harry got up as well and stretched his arms and yawned a bit.

"Yeah, me too, night," Harry said. He never knew why he did this, but the next thing he knew, he just kissed Cho on the cheeks and walked away. _'Okaay. What the bloody hell did I just do?'_ he thought.

Cho on the other hand was frozen. Dumbfounded by Harry's actions, she found herself blushing furiously. The cheek that Harry kissed left a warm feeling on her. She touched the spot with her palm as she smiled broadly. _'What a way to end your night, eh?_' she thought cheerfully as she headed to bed.

0

It was around 3 am. Harry woke up. He heard some muffled sniffs, as if someone was crying. He got up to see where it came from. When he saw the other half of the divider, he saw Cho, who was sitting up straight and crying. As if he felt nothing else to do, he immediately went beside her to console her.

"What happened?" Harry asked curiously while he had a look of worry on his face.

"I sniff had a nightmare sniff bout my mum and dad… The scene sniff at Diagon Alley! sniff it keeps on playing again and again in my head!" she cried to Harry as she buried her face to Harry's shoulder. He was indeed dumfounded, he didn't know what to do in situations like these. But certainly he wouldn't want to see Cho this sad. He flung his arms around her and rocked her gently as he hushed her while saying some soothing words to her. Soon enough, Cho stopped. It seemed that what he did was effective.

"Thanks Harry," she murmured to Harry. "Don't mention it," he said as he put his hand on her head.

"Harry,"

"Yeah?"

"You're like,"

"Like?"

"A brother I once had,"

Those words struck Harry like a venomous dagger the stabbed to the deepest reaches of his heart. _'a brother?'_ he thought to himself. _'maybe she's really not over Diggory yet'_ a voice in his head told him. _'Oh quit it, will you! It's not the time to think about that! She's crying for Merlin's sake!'_ another voice protested.

"Happy I'm here for ya then," Harry whispered to her as he lay her to her bed.

"Go, sleep. I'll wait for you till you fall asleep," Harry whispered to her as he stroked some of Cho's hair away from her face.

"Alright. Thanks," She said as she smiled as closed her eyes.

'_She looks just like an angel if you ask me,'_ said a voice in his head. _'Don't you dare think about anything like that right now! She doesn't need that! What she needs is a friend for crying out loud!'_ another voice countered.

Moments after, Cho fell asleep soundlessly, Harry on the other hand accidentally fell asleep in a sitting position near Cho's head and as he laid his head on the wall.

The following morning, Cho was the one who woke up first. She saw that Harry was right beside her, sleeping. She smiled at him and slowly sat up, not trying to wake him up. Harry woke up anyway, but it wasn't Cho's fault.

"Oh, morning," Harry muttered sleepily as he shifted his position and fell flat at the foot of Cho's bed. Cho giggled at him.

"Morning lazy head! You never went to your bed again last night didn't you?" She asked. "Tsk tsk tsk… Naughty little boy!" she mocked him. Harry on the other hand was a bit too sleepy still to counter her. His head was flat on the sheets as he shifted his head a bit so that half of his face was seen. "Yeh. I couldn't take hanymore hand fell ashleep, what time ish it hanyway?" he asked as his voiced was muffled by the sheets.

"8 am. C'mon, let's get dressed. I think you're starving already!" Cho said as she heard Harry's stomach growl.

"Mind reader eh?" he asked. Again his words were muffled.

"Nope, but I can very well hear the protest of your stomach!" she said while grinning.

"What can I say? I'm a growing man!" He said as he got up. "Go ahead, I'll leave the room first, I'll wait for you outside" He said as he waved at her and left the room.

As Harry waited outside the room, thoughts about last night rushed through his mind. He still couldn't quite realize if he was dreaming or something. But one thing is for sure, if he was dreaming, he wouldn't want to wake up anymore.


	4. The Inevitability of the Second War

**Chapter 4: The Inevitability of the Second War**

"Lucius," a cold snake-like voice hissed from the dark.

"My lord, I am very sorry. It will never happen again," Lucius said as he knelt down facing the floor.

"How many times have you failed me? I'm growing tired of your impudence! Crucio!" the cold hissing voice bellowed.

Lucius was screaming, staggering in overwhelming pain. But it seams as if he was used to this. Like he was under this spell a lot of times before. But then, it came to his senses that someone else was watching him from a distance. Someone who will lead the pack of death eaters after him. He summoned all his will power and got up again amidst all the excruciating pain.

"It will never happen next time my lord," he said in a weak voice.

"I've heard that before, give me something new!" the hissing voice growled.

"If I fail again, then… you can kill me," he trailed off as he hesitated.

He saw a pair of red eyes from the darkness. The pair of eyes looked from him then to someone else. He looked back to see who it was looking. His eyes grew big when he saw who.

"If you fail again, it's your son's life I'm taking" said the hissing voice he went in front of him showing his figure.

Lucius didn't know what to do. He mustn't fail this time or his son, Draco would die. He turned around and looked around for his son. He saw him, he was very pale. Apparently, the words his master said had been hard for his son to take in and analyze.

"Draco, lets leave. I shall come again when I have succeeded, my lord." He said as he stood up and went toward his son, trying to show no emotion.

_oMeanwhile At Godric's Hollowo_

"Hey Harry! Wake up! Geez! You're such a lazy head!" Cho called him out as she frantically shook him while giggling to be able to wake him up. After a few minutes of relentless shaking, Harry woke up.

"Okay…okay…Getting up," he groaned as he motioned to get up when he suddenly tackled Cho down the floor and threw her waves of relentless tickles.

"HAH! My turn now! You suffer!" he said in a rather dignified tone as he continued his task.

"HEY! Stop it! No fair!" Cho protested while trying her best no to giggle.

After a few minutes, they only realized that they were in a very awkward position; Cho was on top of Harry. Apparently they have been rolling back and fourth the corridor while trying to retaliate from each other.

"Err…" Harry started as he stopped the silence. Apparently, they were still fixated in that same position. Though the awkwardness started to subside. Cho was nearing him again. Closer and closer, the started to close her eyes when – "click!" he door knob sounded.

They parted from each other as fast as the blink of an eye. They sure didn't want Harry's parents to see them in that way. So they pretended that they were just having a casual conversation. While sitting on the floor that is.

"So, you guys fancy the floor than the couches eh?" James said in a mocking tone as he yawned a bit.

"Oh," Harry muttered as he blushed furiously when the sudden thought of what happened earlier with Cho came past his mind again.

"Alright then! I'll leave you two guys here first! The food is calling my name!" James said cheerfully as he marched of the stairs. Harry and couldn't help but laugh at James. His mother, Lily followed him afterwards as she smiled at Harry and Cho and greeted 'good morning'.

"So…"

"Yeah,"

"Shall we then?" Harry asked as he pointed the stairs in one hand and rubbed his stomach on the other.

"Gee, Potter! I never realized that you have such an appetite!" She teased as she led the way downstairs.

"Oh quit it Cho, just move faster or else I'll have you for breakfast instead!" he threatened playfully as Cho swatted his arm.

When they got downstairs, a strange kind of atmosphere welcomed them. It was rather, tense. Harry saw almost all of members of the Order in the living room. He also saw his dad, sitting on the sofa with one arm around his mum.

"Err… What's going on?" Harry asked. Out of nowhere, Ron and Hermione came rushing to them with a newspaper with them. Ron handed it to Harry and Cho whose eyes widened to in shock.

_**VOLDEMORT AND HIS ARMY PILLAGES MANCHESTER**_

_By: Rita Skeeter _

_Just last night, right after the attack on Diagon  
Alley, Voldemort and his death eaters had attacked another city.  
Although this time, he had an army of death eaters with him. They  
Left none alive and burned all the structures in their sight. It seems  
He will never stop until all the cities in Europe had been annihilated.  
These recent course of events indeed proves that the Dark Lord is back to  
Spread terror once again as the Boy-Who-Lived; Harry Potter and Albus  
Dumbledore has said. The Ministry of Magic is advises everyone to be on  
Their guard at all times. All of us are still unsure for our safety since  
Voldemort and his forces chose to attack the cities randomly muggle-  
Inhibited or not. Again the world has yet to go through this tough chal-  
lenge that once happened years back. We could only hope that this time,  
All these pain suffering would soon end. _

_-Rita Skeeter  
The Daily Prophet _

"No…" Harry muttered in shock. Ron, who was behind him sat there, extremely pale as he tried to comfort Hermione who was crying relentlessly.

"What's wrong Hermione?" Cho asked her as she put and arm around her.

"Mysniffparents…" She trailed of as her voce started to muffle out when she broke into tears again.

"No way…" Harry gasped. 'This couldn't be happening! First Cho's parents, now Hermione's?!' he thought. He turned around to look at Hermione. She was sobbing like there was no tomorrow as she sat beside Cho whose eyes were starting to well up in tears again. _'She might be remembering about Diagon Alley. Think Harry! Think!'_ he screamed in his head. He went in front of Hermione and Cho and placed an arm on each of their shoulders to comfort them.

"Shhhh… C'mon. It's okay, we'll get him for this," Harry said as he hoped that his soothing words would help them.

"Why couldn't he just leave us alone?!" Hermione cried out loud as everyone looked at her with sympathy and pity on their faces.

"Because he knows that we are the only one's that has enough courage to stand up against him," said Professor Dumbledore as he went to where Hermione was.

"He knows that the biggest obstacle in his quest to rule all is us. So he tears us apart one by one. But we shouldn't let him. We must endure all the pain and sorrow that will come to our lives. For they will be the ones that will help us toughen ourselves when the hour of judgment is at hand," he said as he turned around to eye Harry.

"I guess everything lies in my hands then," he said as he shrugged. _'Why can't life be nice with me even just for one whole year?'_ he miserably thought to himself.

"Yes and No, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said. "You are the one who is to beat Voldemort. But. We are the ones who are to help you reach that goal," Professor Dumbledore said.

"We will show you the door and open it for you if need be. But you'll be the one who has to walk through it." Lupin cut in as he saw both his parents and the rest of the people around nod in agreement.

"I shall help you unleash the power to defeat the dark lord, Harry. Until there is a single breath in my body, I shall stand beside you in battle," Elijah said as he stepped forward to put his arm on Harry's shoulders. Apparently he has changed his clothes into muggle clothes.

"Thanks," Harry said to him.

"Well, we must be off then, tomorrow will be the day to return to Hogwarts. Make sure that you have a good rest, we must be off then," With that, Professor Dumbledore, Elijah, and the rest of the Order except for the Weasleys, apparated away.

"I don't think I could eat breakfast anymore," Ron grumbled as he broke the silence.

"Ronald Weasley? Doesn't want to eat? Whoa! Can somebody wake me up?" Fred cried sarcastically.

"No! It is true! Little Ronny-ickle isn't hungry! Look! He's ignoring the chocolate frog!" George said in mock shock as he taunted Ron with a chocolate frog.

Everyone else had to laugh at that, even for Hermione and Cho. They seemed to lighten up a bit amidst the recent news.

"Well then, we shall be going for breakfast then!" James said as Lily, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley along with Bill, Charley and Percy left the living room to eat.

_oMeanwhile at 12 Grimauld Placeo_

"We shall have to formulate a plan carefully. A flaw in this plan would mean everything. We can't risk another loss like what happened to Sirius," Moody started.

"I have contacted the Ministry and they have agreed to team up with us. With that, out numbers will surely grow by the thousands." Kingsley informed.

"Good. But we still need more, Elijah, when the time comes, will you and Harry be able to summon the whole flight?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"Yes I think so. But even though we have the power of the dragons, we shall be short on land forces. We need more help," Elijah added.

"Then we shall have to triple recruiting efforts. Elijah, as soon as you get Harry prepared, I am assigning you on a task for Hogwarts. If you could start with him as soon as the school starts, the better. I have arranged with all his professors to take to periods away from his schedule during Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You shall be training him over the weekend and your grounds will be the room of requirement," He said.

"As you wish," Elijah politely nodded in agreement.

"I shall patrol every night outside Hogwarts grounds to keep and eye for upcoming attacks. Care to join Hagrid?" Lupin asked.

"Sound feyn with me," Hagrid replied as he eyed Professor Dumbledore for agreement which he did.

"Well it's settled then. As of now, we are in a state of war. Constant vigilance is needed. Let's keep an eye on each other to avoid further casualties," Moody told everyone.

After the meeting, everyone had else had left the old Black Manor except for Lupin, Elijah, and Mundungus.

_oBack at Godric's Hollowo_

It was almost 9:00pm that time. Harry, Cho, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George were and the living room on the second floor. They were talking, crack up jokes, and having fun while sitting by the fireplace. Fred and George had announced that they had been developing a new product for their Joke Shop. Sure enough, they made sure that Harry and Ron would agree to be the testers.

It was past ten when they decided to head for the beds. The rest of the Weasleys however returned to the burrow with Hermione. Everyone could still trace sadness and grief on her face. Who could blame her though? She never thought that things would end up like this.

Harry and Cho will yet again share a room together for another night. Not that they didn't want to but sometimes, they just get too close. They were sitting on the couch on the opposite sides while talking about the events that took place this day.

"I couldn't help but feel sorry for Hermione. I don't know Harry, but now I think that I was very stupid last year when I blindly accused her," she confessed to Harry with a look of guilt painted on her face.

"Well, you really didn't know what was going that time. And besides, a lot of rumors were flying around Hogwarts about my love life. I mean, those guys know my love life even more than I do!" Harry said. He decided to change the topic since it was getting a bit uneasy.

"Well, I was thinking whether I'd buy Professor McGonagall a see-through vault," Harry said with a sly grin on his face leaving Cho dumbfounded.

"What for?" She asked.

"Well, it seems that the Quidditch Cup will never leave Gryffindor since none has ever defeated us ever since my third year," Harry said innocently as he tried his best to look as if he didn't see the reaction on Cho's face.

"You! Silly Potter! Don't worry, I'll make sure that Cup will leave your house this year!" she said in mock anger. "Since… its my last year. And my last chance…"she murmured as an expression of sadness was painted on her face.

Yet again, Harry didn't know what to do. He thought it was best to come near her and comfort her again. So he did.

"What do you think are you doing, Young Potter?" Cho sprang her head up as she met Harry's face and fell on his eyes. For a split second, they held their breaths; they didn't know what to do. _'Just do it you dimwit!'_ a voice scowled in Harry's mind

He inched nearer to Cho. He could feel her breath already. Her warmth is already surrounding him. And her aroma has already taken control over Harry. He was lost in bliss. It was nothing compared to anything that happened to his life before. It was like euphoria for him. Happiness above happiness, she started to close her eyes and lean closer. He felt all the heat in his body rise, like a volcano ready to erupt at any given time.

'_This is it, Harry,'_ he said to himself. He inched closer and closer. He could already feel her lips. The "BANG!" something hit the window. They parted from each other faster than a speeding bullet. Both of them were still redder than red. Harry slowly got up to see what it was. As he reached the window, he grunted at the sight before his eyes.

"Errol," he grunted disappointedly. _'This better be something important,'_ he grunted to himself.

"Who is it from?" Cho managed to speak as she was still very red.

"Ron," he said as he opened the note that Errol delivered.

_Harry,_

_I just wanted to say that all of us got home safely. Mum and Dad also wanted to say thanks to your parents. Sorry If the letter was uncalled for. Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow!_

_Ron_

_P.S _

_You're such a lucky git! Kidding! Good luck with you-know-who-I'm-talking-about!_

"Right," he grunted again.

"What does it say? Cho asked as Harry passed the letter. Harry failed to realize that the letter contained something that Cho mustn't see. But it was too late; she finished reading it went very red again. He was trapped. He had to think of a good excuse.

"Err… I'm going to bed now… Yeah-that's right," he said nervously as he neared Cho one last time and kissed her on the cheek as he left for bed.

Cho again was left dumbfounded. _'Gee, so much for the goodnight kiss'_ she thought as she touched the cheek where Harry had kissed her. She too went to her bed so that she'll be able to wake up early tomorrow.

"Night Harry," she mumbled as she lay on her bed to sleep.


	5. Return to Hogwarts

**Chapter 5: Return to Hogwarts **

Harry woke up around 9:00 in the morning. He was quite excited because he was able to go back to school. A lot of things had been able to make him very eager for the term; the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher, Quidditch, and of course, dragoon lessons. Harry didn't know why but something in his mind told him that he would have one. _'Must be dragoon's senses'_ he thought. _'Quite right, Harry.'_ a voice said to him. Harry jumped out from his bed in surprise and made some noise. He was praying that he didn't wake Cho up.

'_Who are you?'_ he said in his mind.

'_Oh sorry! This is Elijah! Sorry I forgot to tell you about this! One of a dragoon's abilities is telepathy; mind talk. But we can only talk since we are both dragoons. If you are talking to someone who isn't a dragoon then you'll be able to read their thoughts._' Elijah said.

'_You mean, I can, read whatever they're feeling?'_ Harry asked.

'_Yep! But you mustn't use this until need be. It's rude to do that,'_ Elijah warned him.

'_Yeah I know, I was wondering earlier what was going with Cho's mind…'_he said absent-mindedly.

'_Oh! That Asian girl? She's a big fish! I'll tell ya that!'_ Elijah said cheerfully.

'_Don't worry though, she's all yours! I can even help you, you know! If you'd let me,' _Elijah said reassuringly.

'_Thanks, I'll keep that in mind,' _he said._ 'Look, I need to go. I'll talk to you later,'_ he said.

'_Alright, bye then Harry,' _Elijah said.

'_Aright Elijah,'_ he said.

'_Oh, before I forget, just call me "Eli". Bye then!'_ with that, his mind came back to normal.

Harry picked himself up off the floor and went beside Cho, he sat down beside her head and watched her sleep.

'_Damn, she sure looks like a fairy,'_ Harry thought dreamily. Just then, Cho started to open her eyes. As she saw the sight, she felt surprised and at the same time, pleased to see what was before her.

"Just so you know, young Potter, I'm not an exhibit that you can observe anytime! And, it seems like you're going to do this like a like a daily habit eh?" she teased as she slowly sat up.

"Well, if I'm able to go to your dorm inside your house, then why not?" he said as he laughed heartily.

"Well, I'm sorry to inform you Harry, you can't!" she said in mock disappointment. They both gave out some hearty laughs and ended up looking into each other. Just like what happened the other night, they were once more lost in each other's gazes. Harry decided to go for it again. _'Where in the bloody hell do I get my guts?!' _he wondered to himself.

They were so close again. Every inch of their body was waiting; yearning for the other body's warmth. Inches left, he can again feel her lips, so can she. Then… "knock!". "Hey you two in there! Better fix your things and go down for breakfast!" said Lily's voice from outside.

"This is starting to be a bad habit," Cho muttered while still in the same position as before. "Yeah, I know," Harry replied as he noticed their position, he blushed furiously and moved away slowly as he saw did they same.

"I'll go fix my things," he blurted out.

"Yeah,"

Harry went back to his side of the room as he started packing his things. _'Why does that happen all the time?'_ he thought miserably to himself. As he finished packing, he went over again to Cho's part of the room. He saw that she was also finished and they made their way downstairs, quietly.

"Morning sleepyheads," James said lazily with a sleepy look on his face.

"Look who's talking!" Harry teased as he sat down and made a grab for the milk.

"We'll have to leave by 10:00, the train leaves at 11:00," Lily informed them.

"Right," James replied as he managed o speak while eating.

"Gee dad, I never knew that you could beat Ron's appetite." Harry mused out loud.

"I take that as a compliment!" James replied cheerfully and went back to eating.

As soon as they finished, they went upstairs to do a final check on their things. The clock stroke 12 and all four of them gathered at the living room. Lily took out a portkey that Professor Dumbledore gave her.

"Aright, all set?" she asked as both Harry and Cho gave her a nod.

With a blink of an eye, they were in an alley beside King's Cross.

"Whoa, I never knew a portkey was that effective," James mused.

They walked up to the platform between 9 and 10. Each one of them took turns in passing through the magical barrier; Cho first, then Harry, then Lily and James. As they started to walk, Harry noticed that the people around them were staring at his parents. He could hear them whisper and gasp. Then as they walked, he heard voices from behind calling his name.

"HARRY! CHO!" came Ron's cheerful voice along with Hermione's.

"Hi Ron, hi 'Mione," he said as he smile and so did Cho.

"So, any news from the order?" Harry asked.

"A LOT of changes!" Hermione replied.

"What do you mean? A LOT of changes?" Harry was puzzled.

"Well, You-know-who has gathered a VERY massive army of death eaters, so the Ministry has agreed to merge the Order with the aurors. Plus the Order has trippled its recruiting efforts since they are very outnumbered with Voldemort's army," Ron started.

"As of now, what's the headcount of the death eaters and the join force of the Order and aurors?" Cho asked.

"It's like a ratio of 1:100! That's where it lies to you and Elijah, Harry," Hermione said as he turned to Harry. Just then Elijah walked up to them with his own stuff while something unfamiliar to Harry was strapped to his back. It was longer than Gryffindor's sword. Apparently he heard what Hermione and Ron had just said seeing the worried expression on his face.

"Heya, I think you ought to get a room for that conversation. It's not safe here," Elijah said.

"Ok, then. Lets just wait for Fred and George, they want to hear it too," Ron said.

"How? I mean, aren't they supposed to be out the school already?" Harry asked.

"Apparently, Dumbledore allowed them to repeat their final year because of the events last year," Hermione said.

"Oh. Alright, hey Eli," Harry replied.

Just then, Fred and George joined them. "Seems like we'll be batch mates, Ms. Chang!" Fred said.

"Haha, yeah, it seems so," she replied with a grin.

"To the train then?" Harry asked.

"Yep,"

As all seven of them went to the train, they found the last empty compartment and sat there. They continued talking about various things as the train started to move. Apparently, Eli knew the things they did too; he also knew how to play exploding snap, quidditch and others of the like. Just then, someone rudely opened the door without knocking. There was no more need of guessing who it was; Draco Malfoy.

"Well, let's see, Potty, Weasel, Mud Blood, Chang! And let's see, who might you be?" Malfoy said in amusement as he stared at Elijah.

"Elijah Austin," Eli replied, keeping a blank, intimidating look on his face.

"Looks like Potter here gained another fan," feeling uneasy with the gaze Eli's been giving him, he gave a final scoff and sounded retreat "I'm off, I don't need to waste my time with the likes of you!" he sneered as he stormed off. Harry noticed that Cho was white in anger and in the verge of tears. A thought suddenly came to his mind, Cho was reminded about the attack on Diagon Alley. Suddenly she couldn't take it anymore and burst into tears.

"Cho!" Harry said as she ran out of the compartment, Harry tore after her.

"Oi! Cho!" Harry cried as he ran after her. She stopped running and leaned on the wall as she slowly sat down.

"What's wrong?" Harry whispered to her as he caught up with her and sat beside her.

"That sniff Malfoy!" she said as her voice was still muffled with crying. "His sniff father! sniff he killed sniff my parents!" she said as she burst into tears again. Harry tried to evaluate in his mind the situation at hand. _'Should I? Should I not? Oh what the hell!'_ he thought. He flung his arms around Cho and said some comforting words. Somehow, Cho stopped crying and just rested her head into his shoulders and closed her eyes.

"Thanks,"

"For what?"

"For making me feel secure,"

"Oh. Sure,"

They fell silent for a few minutes. They were just like that, enjoying each other's company. After a few more minutes, Cho got up.

"I… I'm just going to check up on my friends I'll see you later," she said as she kissed Harry on the cheek making both of them blush deep red. Then, she turned and walked away.

This time, it was Harry's turn to be left dumbfounded. He just held the spot where Cho had kissed him and went back to the compartment.

"Where's Cho?" asked Ron.

"Gee Harry, your shirt's all wet!" Hermione said.

Elijah just smirked at Harry as Hermione and Ron knew why. Then they all laughed at him and decided not to torture and tease him. Well that was for the first few minutes.

"So, what happened?" Eli started to ask while still wearing a smile.

"She cried. I came over to her and…" he trailed off.

"And?" Ron asked as he looked like he was about to strangle him.

"I held her," he confessed as he felt his cheeks grew red. Just then. Cho came in. Apparently, she already felt fine and was smiling again.

"Heya, - Harry! You're all red!" she said as she glanced at Harry.

"OH! Uh, this is nothing! Trust me! Ha-ha" he stuttered as Hermione, Ron, Eli, and the others laughed, leaving Cho baffled.

"Am I missing something?" she eyed Ron and Hermione.

"Oh! No!" Ron lied. "None! Nothing at all!" Hermione joined the tease as Cho could only offer them a perplexed look. Cho decided to give up on asking questions since she figured out it was useless.

They continued to talk about various things as the train neared Hogwarts. It seems that the earlier tension had already subsided. They had decided to change into their school robes since they would reach Hogwarts in only a matter of minutes.

"I wonder who's the new Defense Against Dark Arts Teacher…" Cho said.

"I recon Lupin will come back," Hermione said.

"That's great then" Harry cheered. Soon the train stopped and everyone got out of the train. Harry heard a familiar voice from the front of the train.

"Fers years! Over here!" said Hagrid. Harry rushed to him to greet him. He was thankful that he didn't have those scars anymore.

"Hi Hagrid!" he greeted.

"Oh! Hiya there Harry!" he replied as he was sorting all the first years in a line.

Harry then walked back to Cho and the others as they found a carriage for themselves. He saw the threstrals again. This reminded him of how Sirius died under Bellatrix's wand. _'I'll find a way to bring you back, Sirius. I promise,' _he said to himself.

When they were inside the compartment, everyone else resumed talking. Although Harry didn't feel like talking, he tried to participate in their conversation. Cho noticed this.

"You okay?" Cho whispered to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he lied.

"That's not true Harry, I can tell," she said.

"I'll tell you later,"

"Alright,"

The carriage stopped and everyone got out of the carriage. They were back at last. They were standing in front of Hogwarts along with the other students who were making their way to the castle. Harry saw some of his friends from Gryffindor. They were also very happy to be returning to the school.

"Hey Harry!" Dean and Seamus came up to him and grabbed him away from Cho's earshot.

"What in the world are you doing with Chang?! I thought you guys broke up! My, my, my! Corner's not gonna be too happy about this!" Dean taunted him playfully.

"Don't tell she's your-" Seamus started.

"No! it's not like that! We're just friends!" Harry protested.

"But still! You're the luckiest git in Hogwarts! I mean, every guy is after her! Look at her! She's perfect!" Dean said while Seamus nodded in agreement.

"Hay Dean! Watch out! Ginny might hear you!" Harry teased as he found the moment and escape when he saw Dean blush.

Harry found his way to the Great Hall as everyone else was there. But as he was to enter, Ron and the others found him.

"There you are, mate!" Ron said as he went to Harry.

"Sorry, Dean and Seamus had a word with me," he said as everyone got to him too.

"Right," Ron said as they proceeded to the Great Hall.

"Where's Eli?" Harry asked.

"Gone with the first years for the Sorting," Cho replied. "see you later," she said as she hugged Harry and turned around to walk to the Ravenclaw table. Heads turned when they saw the sight leaving Harry extremely red.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George made their way to the Gryffindor table. Just as Harry expected, all his other friends bombarded him with questions.

"Just friends huh?" Dean asked sarcastically while smirking. Harry looked over the Ravenclaw table to see that Cho was also undergoing the same interrogation that he is under.

Just then, the doors of the Great Hall opened and Professor McGonagall along with the first years and Elijah came in.

"May I have your attention please," said Professor Dumbledore as he got up. "This year, a lot of changes will take place. To start with, I am very pleased to introduce you to a transferee student from Dumstrang, his name is Elijah Austin!" Professor Dumbledore started. "He shall be in the sixth year, therefore, he is the first one to be sorted," he said and with that, Elijah came up.

"Well, well, well, I never thought that the likes of you still existed! You can never be a Slytherin! That would taint your pure-blooded lineage!" said the sorting hat as the Slytherins jeered a bit. "You have knowledge way beyond mine, and more loyal than anyone around here, therefore –GRYFFINDOR!!!" the sorting hat cried as the Gryffindor table erupted in cheers.

"Well done mate!" Ron exclamaimed as Eli came over to their place.

"It was quite predictable actually," Eli commented politely.

The sorting ceremony continued as all four houses welcomed their new members cheerfully. "Nate Williams" "HUFFLEPUFF!" "Jessie Zachary" "GRYFFINDOR!" As everyone else had settled down. Professor Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome to another school year," he started as most of the students applauded politely. "Due to the recent events, we are going to have to tighten our security. The number of our prefects will be doubled and they shall be patrolling the corridors at night time along with Mr. Filch," "As for the new prefects, these were carefully handpicked from each house, namely; Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle for Slytherin," few claps from the Slytherin table can be heard. "Mr. McMillan and Ms. Roberson for Hufflepuff," the claps grew louder. "Mr. Corner and Ms. Lovegood for Ravenclaw," cheers could be heard through the hall. "and lastly, Mr. Potter and Ms. Weasley will be for Gryffindor," cheers and applauses could be heard from across the hall as most of the Slytherin jeered.

Harry looked around. He saw everyone eyeing him in a look that somewhat meant 'congratulations'. Then he found himself staring towards the Ravenclaw table. But something was different. Cho. She was in deep conversation with none other than Michael Corner. It appears as if she's burning red. Not in anger but in joy. Harry's heart sunk. He didn't know why, maybe he still felt something for her. _'Get a life, Harry! She said it herself! You're like her brother!'_ a voice said to him in his mind. _'But there were times that you almost kissed! There must be some explanation to this!'_ another voice protested.

"The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for this year, or should I say, returning, is none other than Remus Lupin. Apparently, the Ministry of Magic lifted the law which makes the ware wolves unable to apply for a job," Professor Dumbledore continued. Harry noticed Lupin staring towards the Gryffindor table. He was grinning broadly. This sight made Harry a bit less sad.

"So far, these are the only changes, we are still going to have quidditch matches and all those who were banned last year will be reinstated to their respective teams," almost everyone seemed jubilant about this news because quidditch was one of the only things that took their attention away from all the tension of school. "So far, these are the only things that are new this school year. I know a lot of you must be hungry by now so, dig in!" Professor Dumbledore concluded. Harry found a real big smile on Ron's face upon hearing what Professor Dumbledore had just said. ("About time he let us eat!" Ron complained.)

The meal was rather quiet for Harry. He had a lot of his mind to ponder on. There was Voldemort and his next move, the new quidditch season, his all-new prefect duties, and Cho. Yes. Cho. He didn't know what to do about her. He knew that she and Michael Corner had been going out. And there were numerous occasions during summer that they almost kissed. Somehow, that familiar lurching in his stomach whenever she saw or even thought about Cho made its way back to him. He finished eating and decided that he wanted some time alone. Some time to think.

"Hey guys, I'm going to get some fresh air. I'll see you in a little bit," Harry took off immediately, not leaving any window of opportunity for either Ron, or Hermione to ask him questions.

Harry walked out of the Great Hall and found himself wandering through the lake just outside Hogwarts. He sat under one of the trees near the lake. He had a real nice view of the lake and the sky at the same time. The moon's light reflected gently down to the lake along with the stars that filled the sky that night. Somehow, this sight made him relax a bit more.

He picked up pebbles from time to time and threw it in the lake as he tried to evaluate the swarming thoughts in his head. He was in a state of confusion. He thought he had gotten over Cho. But then again, he hadn't. Just seeing her with Michael Corner made him jealous. He knew that right now, he didn't have the right to be jealous. After all, he had his chance with her. And he blew it.

"God! Can someone just tell me how stupid I got!"

"Stupid of what?"

Harry bolted up and looked around from where the voice came. It sounded very familiar to him. He looked over to his back and saw a girl. She was about a foot shorter than him and had a real long jet black hair that was tied in a ponytail.

It was Cho.

"Oh, hi. I didn't notice you were here," Harry said.

"It's okay. I thought I could get some fresh air so I went out. Then I saw you here. What were you whining about just then?" She asked.

"Oh. That. It's nothing,"

"You sure? Because it doesn't look like that,"

"Yeah, definitely sure,"

"So,"

"Hmmm?"

"How long have you and Michael Corner had been together?"

"Oh. Him," "For about almost 4 months now,"

"That's nice. He must be one hell of a guy,"

"Sure,"

"Yeah, I bet he is," he said sardonically making Cho to scowl at him.

"And what that supposed to mean?" she inquired as her blood started to boil.

"Nothing! I can just see how happy the both of you together. The perfect couple!" he continued on. A part of him wanted to stop this but jealousy got the better of him.

He continued.

"Harry, that's not nice. This isn't funny!"

"Why? Who told you I was joking?"

"Where is this going?"

Harry stood up, followed by Cho, who's apparently getting more and more frustrated at what Harry's up to.

"Cho, that kid hurt Ginny's feelings! He's a git for all I care! He doesn't deserve you!" he protested.

"I don't see your point, Harry. He's different now, he's better. Now, I don't really know why you're blowing-off like this and I intend to get an explanation right this moment, Harry James Potter!" she was fuming. This was getting bad. Before Harry could stop himself, he was saying the things he'd been keeping for a long time.

"You really want to know why? Fine! I like you. Yes! I really do. And it pains the bloody hell out of me that you're with someone who'd end up hurting you and would leave you alone. I don't want to see you as miserable as you were when you lost Cedric! I made a mistake once by not treating you right, but I'm not about to let you get hurt! You deserve better!.... and…" Harry wasn't done yet. Cho was taken aback by this sudden outburst. At the back of her mind, she was half-expecting something like this. But she really didn't count on it. She was still lost for words. Harry broke the silence and continued.

"And yes, I'm jealous. I'm jealous because if I know that if I hadn't been a prat last year, I'd be the one beside you earlier, not Michael. Cho, I've been waiting for that time with you ever since I laid my eyes on you in that field," he pointed to the direction of the quidditch pitch as he stared intently into Cho's ebony orbs. "and it pains me to think that I've wasted my opportunity. All I could do right now is to make sure you're happy. And I don't want to see you hurt. Because I care for you. More than anything else I have to own or could ever have…" he trailed off as he hesitated to walk away. After a split second, he turned his back and took his leave swiftly, not looking back to see Cho trying to catch his shoulder to stop him, apparently she's too tongue-tied and speechless to say anything.

He left a dumbfounded Cho. He made his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room and went straight to the dormitories. He really didn't want to talk. He just wanted to sleep the night away. He was trying to find out deep inside him where he got the courage to tell what he really felt for her. Maybe it was just the overwhelming feeling that was cramped up inside of him that made him do so. Whatever it was, he was sure thankful that it helped him tell her.

"So this is how it feels… It's too bloody hard!" Harry whispered to himself before he closed his eyes to sleep.


	6. Distractions, Complications… Just name i

**Chapter 6: Distractions, Complications… Just name it! **

Harry woke up the following day feeling a bit fuzzy. He really didn't get to sleep immediately last night. He brain was still in a frenzy trying to evaluate what had just happened. Just then, he realized the consequences he had just done._ 'How the bloody hell then would I be able to talk to her? Not only that, what would happen to her and Michael Corner?'_ he thought. He fixed himself up and went down to the Great Hall to join Ron and Hermione for breakfast.

"Harry!" called Ron. Harry approached the Gryffindor table a little bit slower. He was trying to catch someone in his sights as he walked toward the table. But his eyes weren't focused on the Gryffindor table. He was staring blank into the Ravenclaw table, trying to get of his raven-haired friend. Then thump! he bumped into someone.

"Potter, we need to talk," whispered a cold voice.

"What do you want with me, Malfoy?"

"Just come with me. We need to talk in private,"

"Harry, is everything alright?" Apparently, Ron just came up to them as the whole room's attention was on the three of them.

"It's okay. I'll join you in a bit,"

"But-"

"Just go, Ron,"

Ron walked out of the scene and Harry and Draco went out of the Great Hall. Heated murmuring could be heard all over the Great Hall as the left.

Harry and Draco went just outside the oak doors and started to talk.

"So, what do you want?" interrogated Harry.

"I'm defecting,"

"You're what?!"

"Voldemort's gone way off the limit. I can't take it anymore,"

"But- How?- Why?"

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Draco Malfoy, the son of the infamous Lucius Malfoy, one of Lord Voldemort's most loyal death eaters had just defected and is seeking solace under the Order's side.

"Does Crabbe and Goyle know?"

"No. And if they did, I'll be dead for sure. They will never relinquish their allegiances with him. Father doesn't know too,"

"What will happen then?"

"For now, I'll have to act the same. But I'll try to leak you information as much as I can,"

"Oh."

"Alright then,"

"Oh, and Harry,"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry,"

If anything was most shocking, this would be it. Draco Malfoy apologizing to his arch-enemy, Harry Potter. Harry never thought this would go this far.

"What?"

"You heard me! I don't want to repeat myself again! I still want to keep my pride intact!"

"Alright then, I'll go ahead of you then,"

"Alright, I'll see you around then"

Without saying another word, Harry walked back to the Great Hall. He still couldn't believe the events that had been taking place. First was Cho and Michaeal Corner. Then the sudden apology of Malfoy. This was too much to take in.

Harry didn't really notice where he was going. It seemed that his mind was wandering off again along with his attention. Just then, he found himself down on the ground with a mild pang of pain in the head. His vision was a little bit blurred. When it came into focus, he saw a figure in front of him. A figure that made his stomach twirl ever so painfully. He knew no one else had ever made him feel this was.

Cho.

"Er- Sorry Cho! Didn't know where I was going,"

"I-I-its fine. Harry-"

"I have to go now. I'll see you around. Bye-"

Harry took off without saying a word, much more not even looking into Cho's eyes when he took off. Somehow, this feeling that he felt was much like what he felt when he was in his 4th year in Hogwarts. But this time, the odds were different. He and Cho had a history already, and they both had _"unfinished"_ business.

Harry sat down in the Gryffindor table in his usual seat. Ron saw the expression in his face and was about to make fun of him. But Hermione was too fast for him. She made a grab of the nearest chicken wing and stuffed it right into Ron's mouth. This made everyone around them very startled, including Harry.

"What the bloody hell was that for?!"

"Nothing," Hermione had this look of innocence in her eyes. As if she did nothing unfair to Ron.

Just then, Elijah approached Harry. "Harry, we need to talk. In private," he whispered. Harry sighed a little _'So much for the private conversations'_ he thought to himself.

"Alright," he said. And so he got up and the both of them left the Gryffindor table and outside the Great Hall again. Just as they walked out of the doors of the Great Hall, they saw Cho and Michael Corner, sitting in a bench, talking.

Yet again, Harry felt the twirling sensation in his stomach. He did his best to ignore it and led Elijah opposite of Cho and Michael Corner's direction.

"So, what is it you want to talk about?" he started.

"It's your training, it's every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 7:00 pm, in the Room of Requirement,"

"7?! But that's supper! How will I be able to eat?"

"Dumbledore has made arrangements with the elves to bring us food after your training,"

"Oh. Well, I guess it's alright then,"

"Oh yeah, before I forget, here's your schedule," Elijah handed Harry's class schedule as they walked back near the entrance of the Great Hall. Harry took a look at his schedule. Much to his relief, Potions wasn't his class until after lunch. His first class was divination. Then, double Transfiguration, then DADA.

As soon as they got to the entrance of the Great Hall, Ron and Hermione emerged from the door.

"Heya Harry, Eli!" Ron cheerfully greeted as Hermione waved and mouthed the same words Ron said.

"I think I know why you're so happy, it's the schedule isn't it?"

"Of course! I've been praying all morning that Potions wouldn't be our first class! I wouldn't want to ruin my start, eh?" Ron said indignantly.

"How bout you?" Eli asked as he eyed Hermione for an answer.

"Well, I've got Divination too, then double Arithmancy and DADA,"

"Not bad, c'mon. Lets go to our first class, I don't want to be late on my very first class," Apparently, Eli was quite enthusiastic about going to classes. Its because he has never experienced the boredom Divination can give you. But maybe there'll be something interesting here, since Eli had so much information with him.

"The four of them reached the Divination classroom. They shared the class with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. _'Ravenclaw?!'_ Harry thought to himself. Harry felt his insides contract and twirl so hard that it almost made him go down to his knees. As they made their way to their seats, Harry saw a familiar Ravenclaw's face. It was so familiar that he gulped at the sight of her. She wore a long silky-black hair. It was Cho Chang. Well, nowadays, you couldn't see Cho Chang without Michael Corner. Not that Cho likes him very much, but Michael was there when Harry wasn't for Cho.

Harry felt glued to her direction. No matter how much he tried not looking, his head wont move an inch. Until, her eyes turned to him. Harry mustered all the will he could summon and forcefully turned his head away. He could see from the corner of his eye that she looked down with a somewhat painful look on her face.

"Something wrong with the both of you, mate?" Apparently, Ron saw the recent event that took place. Harry dared not to answer. He felt uneasy whenever he talked about what he felt. It was a very unusual experience for him. He never wanted to experience it. Like somehow, he wanted to be just a kid again. No worries whatsoever.

Thankfully for Harry, Ron decided to drop the subject. Divination was as boring as ever for Harry and Ron as Professor Trelawney discussions. Again they were paired up for the same activities where Harry and Ron found not so interesting. Well, not for Parvati Patil and Lavander Brown.

By the end of Divination, Eli was starting to realize why Harry and Ron was not so enthusiastic about Divination. They started to make their way to the Transfiguration Classroom when someone tapped Harry's shoulder.

"Harry, can we talk in private?"

It was Cho.

Harry's insides made a big twirl as if he missed a whole staircase.

"Er- sure, hey guys, you can go ahead. I'll catch up," he eyed Ron, Hermione and Eli to go ahead he moved away with Cho.

"What is it that you want to talk about?" Harry started as soon as they got to a private place to talk.

"Nothing really important, I was just wondering if we could talk later. How about after the prefect meeting? Astronomy Tower?"

"There's a prefect meeting?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, sorry I forgot to tell you all! Well, so, what do you say?"

"Er.. alright, see you later! I really have to go now,"

"Okay, I guess I'll see you later. Tell the others I said hi, alright?"

"Yep"

With that, Harry and Cho parted ways. People around them were still giving them silly looks because it was quite in known throughout the corridors of Hogwarts that Harry and Cho had somewhat of a rocky relationship before.

Harry dashed towards the Transfiguration classroom as fast as he could to avoid arriving late. As he made his way, he walked through Malfoy. Malfoy, who apparently had realigned his allegiance towards Harry was still under his cover. He still had o pretend that he despised Harry and everything there is in Harry.

"Running late aren't we, Potty?" Draco sneered with his usual cold voice.

"What do you care, father's boy?"

"Just because you had your parents back, it doesn't MEAN they can't be gone again!"

Harry was a bit taken aback by Malfoy's words. He was beginning to doubt what he had just told him earlier this morning. He was getting confused by the moment. He did a double take, was that a forewarning of things to come?

"Suit yourself. I wouldn't want to waste time with people who keep on whining about how they miss their fathers,"

And with that, Harry walked away from the scene like a prancing horse from a victorious battle. All of Malfoy's cronies, even Crabbe and Goyle were left speechless with Harry's final statements.

Transfiguration was a blast for Harry and the rest, especially for Elijah. Transfiguring things was as easy for him as abc. Although the transfiguration classes for their year was quite more advanced, Harry, Eli and Hermione found it easy. Ron however was as miserable as ever with this subject. Hermione had to guide him all the way when they were asked to morph a dog into a gargoyle's statue.

As they made their way for their next class, Hermione took out a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Harry, I think you should see this"

**13 CITIES ALL OVER ENGLAND HAS FALLEN TO THE DARK ARMY, NO SURVIVORS**

"No. This can't be!" Voldemort's army has been known as the dark army eversince he was able to amass such number of supporters. And the death eaters had been the officers of his so called dark army.

"Come on, read it! What's it say, mate?" Ron urged.

"It is said that the Dark Army has taken over 13 cities across England. All the citizens are assumed to be under a spell of some sorts since they have dramatically changed their allegiances with Voldemort and has pledged to serve him. All of these 13 cities have been banned and considered as off-limits for the rest of the public until the situation has been resolved. The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge has appointed Alastor Moody as a temporary Minister of Defense. Further information has been considered confidential to avoid any leak on the intelligence reports."

"This doesn't sound too good," Ron commented casually.

"No, not at all," Harry replied sarcastically.

Transfiguration went through normally. Professor McGonagal assigned them a 12-inch essay regarding they're insights and opinions about how the lessons for the 6th year should be. Finally it was Defense against the Dark Arts. As they walked up to the room, Harry and the rest of them caught up with Malfoy.

"Malfoy, I need a word with you," Harry whispered as soon as he got the window of opportunity when he saw nobody looking at Malfoy. As soon as he got the message, he followed suit just outside the classroom.

"Do you know anything about what Voldemort's planning?"

"I've heard only bits and pieces. But I do know one thing for sure. Anytime this week, You-know-who's planning to ambush Hogwarts," he said cautiously as he scanned the area for prying eyes and sneaks.

"What? Since when have you gotten hold of this info?"

"Before the Hogwarts Express left the station. I was meaning to tell you this. But I can't find the right timing to do so,"

"Thanks! This really helps a lot. I'd have to inform Dumbledore about this." With this, Harry started to turn around and head to the DADA class.

"Harry! Wait! You can't tell him just yet. My father put a curse on me. If ever anyone on the faculty of Hogwarts hears about this, I'd be pertrified. He was forced to put this since You-know-who didn't trust me," he confessed.

"Alright, I'll do the necessary planning then,"

Harry had only one thing to do; urge Eli to train him as soon as possible. The sooner he gets familiar to being a dragoon, the better his chances of saving Hogwarts from grave peril.

Harry gave Malfoy a head start to enter the DADA classroom so that they won't get suspicious reactions from anyone. As soon as he got in, he went near Eli and whispered this new found information.

"Eli, we need to start training today. And I need to get familiar with this ASAP," with this said, he caught Eli off-guard and was startled a bit with his statement.

"Whoa! You sure about it? This'll be very hard. Regarding the circumstances that we only meet during night time," Eli said, trying to get back to his normal swagger.

"Yes. I have to. I got a really disturbing news. And the teachers can't know about this because it'd put someone's life in danger," "But Harry, what is the problem in the first place?" he inquired.

"Anytime this week, Voldemort plans to attack Hogwarts,"

"That's a joke! He can't even go near this place!"

"It doesn't mean that if he can't get in, he can't attack us! He has a lot under his belt now; dementors, possessed citizens, death eaters and the like!" "Mmmhmm, point taken!" Eli looked down to the floor as if he was in deep thought, just then Professor Lupin was making his way inside the classroom. Eli put his head up again and stared at Harry. He had that certain glow in his eyes. Like a look of a battle-hungry warrior.

"So, when do we start?"

"That's the spirit! Meet me later, lets skip lunch and dinner, I'll ask Dobby to reserve us some food. Quidditch Field. Sounds fine?"

"Sounds like a plan!"

Just as they finished talking, Professor Lupin poised himself to start the class.

"Certainly, it feels nice to be back. I presume that all of you know me, even you Elijah." Eli gave Professor Lupin a thumbs up and a salute making some of the students smirk.

This year, will be quite a bit more different than what we're supposed to tackle. Since the rise of Voldemort, I've taken it to myself to teach you more advanced spells. Things won't be the same as before where things can be taken easy. Right now, many lives are wasted as we speak and heroes and heroines are praised too,"  
Everyone seems to get hold of what Professor Lupin was trying to point out. This surely isn't a time for slacking and feeling lazy. Everyone had to be keen and vigilant about their surroundings.

"With that's said, I shall start teaching you spells today. And I'd like to start of with a spell that is quite effective when doing battle. As a wizard, you can summon all sorts of spells, enchantments, hexes, charms, curses and the like. This one is quite intricate. It is both a hex and a curse. It is called the Magic Missile."

"This spell, causes the target to receive piercing damage. As if they were hit by an arrow from a bow or a bullet from a sling," "The incantation would be _"vaxio"_. Take turns on trying the spell on the dummies that are located at the back of the classroom," and with that, the students hurried their way to the back. As they practiced, it is very notable to see that Harry yet again got it on the first try. Earning him some congratulating looks from his fellow housemates and some very disdainful looks from the Slytherins. Neville too was doing pretty well. It seems that after the course of events last year, Neville was able to develop his talents.

Five minutes before the bell for the first half of the session, Professor Lupin called them up.

"Now that wasn't bad wasn't it? Well, keep practicing the spell but never. I repeat. Never aim this spell on a fellow student. If ever I hear that someone disobeyed this, he shall receive a whole month's detention. We shall keep practicing this spell but I might teach you something else, now go down to the Great Hall, I think there will be some important announcements too aside from the normal Lunch. Goodbye class."

Harry and the rest of the class started to leave the room for the Great Hall. Ron kept ranting about why the normal class schedule was changed for the day.

"What the bloody hell has gotten to Dumbledore's mind?! He moved lunch for today and let almost all the subjects come through?! He's insane!" It has been known to all Gryffindors that Ron loved so dearly the meal breaks.

As they made their way to the Great Hall, Harry remembered that he and Eli have to train, he glance over to Eli and saw that he was eyeing him too.

"Ron, Hermione, Eli and I have to go. Just save us some food. I need to train. Just tell us if there's something important. We'll be at the quidditch pitch,"

With that said, Harry and Eli fled fro the scene before Ron and Hermione could protest.

There they were, standing in front of each other on the quidditch field. "So Harry, first you'd have to learn how to properly transform into a dragoon. What you'll have to do is to concentrate. That's the start. Then you try to summon whatever it is that makes you angry. Something that makes your insides burn with anger. Try it,"

Harry tried to focus. He tried to think of something that made him really angry. He thought of Bellatrix laughing ever so madly while Sirius was falling deeper and deeper in the veil. He felt his insides burn up. Then a blinding light surrounded him and a loud bang and he was in a full-plated armor, with a pair wings on his back.

"Very well then. Since you are only half-dragoon, you'd have to think of a thought like that, while a full-bread dragoon like me, don't need to," with that the same blinding light enveloped Eli and a loud pop and Eli transformed into another winged knight like he is.

"Now, you can do lots of things that you can't normally do, like flying,"

"How do I fly? I can't even flap my wings properly!"

"Flapping your wings is a first, what you do is you command your wings through your mind. Well, in the start it will be a bit uneasy, but you'll get used to it. Try it"

Harry tried to voice his command in his mind hard enough. Soon enough after five tries, he was able to hover 10 feet from the pitch. And return back to ground.

"Now, casting spells is also a bit different since you don't need a want to do so. You'd just have to chant the incantations in your head to. As you can see, being a dragoon involves a lot of mind work. You may also know some different spells that you think you don't know. That is because when the dragoon blood in you awoke, it enabled numerous spells that you are unable to do before. Just try going with the flow, and you'd eventually get the hang of it,"

Harry and Eli continued to train till past 8pm. Then Harry remembered that He'd have to go for the prefect meeting. With that, the both of them got a quick bite from the food Dobby had saved them and showered up. As soon as Harry was ready, he went straight to Professor McGonagall's office.

As he entered the office, everyone else was seated, including Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. He also caught a glimpse of Cho who saw him and smiled brightly which in turn made Harry's stomach turn so bad that he almost missed a step. As soon as Harry sat down, Professor McGonagall started the meeting.

"This meeting is mainly about informing you about the changes in the prefect patrols this year. It has been agreed upon by all of the teachers that for the sake of inter-house relations, we'd have to pair up students from different houses. And the order follows: Ron Weasley and Luna Lovegood, Michael Corner and Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter and Cho Chang…" When Harry heard this, it was like everything else was blurred from his ears. _'Me and Cho?'_ he thought._ 'You've got to be kidding me! C'mon! Someone bring the punch line!'_ he said in his head. He chanced a look at Cho who was also a bit shocked with the decision. But smiled all the same at him when she saw him looking at her. Harry on the other hand automatically returned the smile as if it was casual.

As soon as the meeting was over, Ron and Hermione made a run to swarm Harry with questions. But much to their dismay, Harry was able to get out of the room and head for the Astronomy Tower.

Just 10 minutes after Harry got to the tower, Cho came. Surprisingly for Harry, Cho was alone.

"Hello there," she greeted cheerfully as she approached him. Harry on the other hand played as if there was someone behind him and thought that that was the one Cho was pointing and greeting.

"You silly! Anyways, how's school?" she said as she playfully hit Harry on the left arm.

"Well, it's fine. Had a little training session with Eli after… Oh damn, we forgot to attend the second period of DADA!"

"I was about to get to that. You've made Ron and Hermione worried sick you know!" Cho said as her face turned from cheerful to an expression full of worry and concern. Harry couldn't help but laugh, leaving Cho to raise an eyebrow.

"Those two… I wonder when they'll give up trying to hold back what they feel," he thought dreamily as he gazed upon the night sky and leaned on to the wall.

"Well, surely the right time will come. But still! What in Merlin's name were you thinking? Going off just like that without properly saying where you were headed!" she continued.

"I'm sorry mother! Well, I actually told them that we'll just be in the Quidditch pitch!" seeing that this subject might lead to an argument, Harry decided to shift the subject.

"Don't' you think it's a bit weird? The perfecting partners I mean,"

"Yeah. Well, at least we got to be partners than either of us ending up with Malfoy!" she said reassuringly as she leaned on the wall also.

"What about Michael?"

"What about him?"

"Don't you want to be with him instead?"

"Look Harry, I can be with him every time, but with you, I don't get to be with you that often in school. He knows that, and he has to accept that fact,"

"Well, I don't know really. I don't even know what to feel," This was something Harry regretted saying. He got into something that he wished he didn't get into. He'd have to explain why he had said that. And he better have a good reason.

"Why so?" Cho went nearer to Harry. She tried to look straight into his eyes despite getting the shade of a tomato's color.

"I… I don't know if… you know… if it's right to feel what I feel,"

"Everyone has that right. No one can take that away,"

"But you don't know how I feel,"

"You have no idea how I feel either," Cho blurted out. This time, she was the one who said something off-key. And suddenly, the floor seemed so interesting to her.

Harry ran his hand on Cho's cheek and gently lifted her chin so that he could look her straight in the eye. He didn't know what possessed him to have this such courage.

"I told you this once already. And if it means saying it again, then that's fine with me. Ever since the first time I laid my eyes on you back there on the quidditch pitch, I've felt something that I've never felt before. Like I had a thousand butterflies in my stomach, but at the same time I feel so happy. So happy that even the word euphoria can't compare. No words compare when you're with me. You got me, Cho. I fell for you. And it sucks that I can't be the one by your side,"

"Harry. I" Cho was in complete shock of what she's heard. Tears were starting to well up in her eyes.

"I thought I lost you back then last year. Things just really got out of hand back then. I so desperately needed you then. But I thought you were mad at me because of Marietta. Michael showed up in those times. He helped me go through the problems I was facing. But all along, I thought of him as if he was you, Harry. You," she said as she finally broke off in tears. She tried her best to hold them, knowing that Harry didn't like her to see like that.

Harry didn't know what to do. In front of her was the only girl she ever had any romantic feelings for. And she was crying. She had just confessed what she felt for him. How much she wanted to be with him. He was so startled with these turn of events. He wasn't used to this. He pulled her close to him and put his arms around her in a hug.

"This isn't right, Cho,"

"I know. But it feels right,"

Harry and Cho's eyes met once more. Harry could see the reflection of the moon in her eyes. As its light made her face glow. The moment was perfect for the both of them. All alone in the Astronomy Tower with only the moon and the stars at night as their witness. Cho started to close her eyes and tilt her head a bit. As Harry started to move his head near hers. They were so close.

Less than inches apart.

They could feel the warmth of each other's breathes.

And then, just like fireworks that explode in New Year's eve, their lips met, all else melting away, disappearing to oblivion as they continued lip-locked together. Like there was nothing else better in the world than to be in each other's arms. Passion pouring out in one sweeping kiss. Emotions that have so long been kept. Neither of them wanted to let go. As if tomorrow wouldn't bring them any life. Finally, they parted; out of breath and both redder than the reddest tomato that ever braced the earth. They still held each other close. Not wanting to part.

"I don't want this to end, Harry."

"But you know we can't hide this forever. What about-"

"Shh. Not now, not tonight. Not here. They can't stop us from feeling this. No one can. Forget them. It's just you and me," she whispered. And with that, they kissed again. More intense than the first one.

After what seemed like half an hour. They stood there, still in each other's arms. Just enjoying each other's company.

"I think we should go down now, its getting late." Harry said.

Cho nodded and they parted. As if it was the most painful thing in the world. Harry walked Cho near the Ravenclaw tower since he didn't want anyone from Ravenclaw seeing them together to avoid such commotion.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Cho whispered as they kissed one more time.

"We'll see," he said. As they broke off, Harry watched Cho return to the Ravenclaw Tower. He still couldn't believe his luck. It felt much better than winning the quidditch cup in Hogwarts. But something was still in the way for Harry and Cho; Michael Corner. What would they have to do?

Aside from that, he had another thing to worry, his 3rd set of parents,; Ron and Hermione. Whenever he went past curfew alone to explore, when he got back he gets hit with the most bizarre things one would normally throw, which would be a piece of crumpled paper and the likes. When Hermione's writing a letter, she throws a jar of ink. When she's fixing her hair, it's either a mirror or a big brush. When Crookshanks is on her lap, it would be the cat. What could be worse that those.

When Harry entered the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry caught a glimpse of Ron playing chess and Hermione reading a very big, old, dusty and hard-covered book. He knew well to duck for safety. But this time, they were a tad bit faster. A book and a chess piece was flying right through his way. Thankfully, he was able to dodge it. Then a very furious Ron and an upset Hermione showed up in front of him.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" Hermione roared.

"Where have you been?!" Ron asked trying not to lose his nerve.

"Long story…." Harry told them Malfoy's unexpected change of allegiances and the news that he had told him. He also told that Eli and him had trained and that he and Cho talked in the tower. With this mentioned, Harry's head replayed the scence in the Astronomy Tower. Ron was about to unleash a barrage of teases but Hermione didn't let him, much to Harry's horror.

"Do you really think that Malfoy's word is that credible?" Hermione asked.

"I wouldn't trust that ferret one bit if you'd ask me, thank you very much!" said Ron indignantly.

"Well, we'd have to be prepared none the less. C'mon, lets get to bed. Its really late."

And with this, they went up to the dormitories. Harry however was still in deep thought. He had a lot in his mind. Cho, the kiss, Michael Corner and the impending battle at Hogwarts. Surely, a sleep would do him good.

_oThe Following Morningo_

Harry got up from his four-poster. He took a look on the window. Something wasn't right. Harry had this gut feeling. He changed his clothes and went ahead of Ron for breakfast. Ron is hopeless when you try to wake him up.

It was around 10:30. Quite a number of people were there already. As Harry made his way to the Gryffindor table, he saw that Eli was already there. He saw Harry too, and like Harry, he was a bit tense.

"Can you feel it?" Eli asked.

"Feel what?"

"Something's not right…"

11:00. everyone was already there. Harry and Eli still had that uneasy feeling. Harry however was scanning the crowd for a certain person. Just then he saw a familiar Asian-looking girl approaching his way. But then a loud bang was heard.

"They're here…" Eli muttered.

"NOW?!" Just as Harry said this. 5 cave trolls barraged its way to the Great Hall.

"Harry! You know the drill! Let's do it! NOW!"


	7. Let the Mayhem Begin

**Chapter 7: Let the mayhem begin **

Trolls were coming from every direction. Students panic-stricken, teachers caught off-guard. Harry and Eli soared high above the Great Hall to get a perfect view and to plan their attack well. Then a crack was heard behind them. The ceiling collapsed and wyverns had gone in. Professor Dumbledore ordered the students to seek refuge in their Common Rooms.

"Harry, take on the wyverns, I'll go get the trolls. Beware! The wyverns have poisonous needles on their tails. They're weak against fire! GO!" Eli screamed. The Great Hall looked like an ant hill. Students running up and about. Dodging the whacks of the cave trolls' club. Hermione, Ron and the rest of the prefects were able to take down some of the trolls that were near them.

Harry soared higher, he tried his best to recall the spells that would help him. He remembered the spell Professor Lupin just taught. He focused hard as he moved round and round the area. A red orb was forming in Harry's left fist. His eyes started to light up in a red color. He aimed his spell at the nearest wyvern which was about to dive down and attack. He released the red glowing orb from his fist, like a baseball pitch. Halfway from Harry, the ball divided into 5 red glowing balls and hit the wyvern. It screeched in pain as it sought out to see its attacker. Harry made no time put into waste and drew out his sword. He dived down as fast as he could to surprise the wyvern he just hit. He came from behind it, with a slash from his sword, the tail of the wyvern was cut. It groaned more and more. Harry sought out it's head. Upon reaching it, the wyvern made its attempt to catch him with its mouth. Missing just a fraction, Harry struck the wyverns head. It was hard, considering that the wyvern had a really tough scale, much like a dragon's. He struck it again at the same place with all his strength, and the head was cut off.

"That's one down," he muttered to himself. As he flew off to search for more.

Ron and Hermione, along with the rest of the Gryffindors tried to seek refuge in their Common Room. As they made their way, another troll was in their path.

"Ron! Distract it! I'll try to aim for its head with a stunning spell!" Hermione shouted as they did their best to evade the monster's attacks.

"That's easy for you to say!" Ron muttered to himself as he aimed his own wand to cast a spell. "_Vaxio!_" he called out as three red glowing orbs came out from Ron's wand hitting the troll. The troll lost it's grip of the club as Hermione aimed her on wand at it.

"_Stupefy!_" she shouted. As the troll fell on it's back, and unconscious as it seemed. "Nice going! Mione!" Ron congratulated her as they made their way to the common room.

"Practice," she said "But, what about Harry?" Ron asked. "He'll be able to take care of himself!" said a 5th year from Gryffindor. "You should have seen him back there! He's bloody brilliant! First light was all over him, then a loud bang and there! He had this wicked armor on him and he had wings and he had a sword too!" Seamus added as they ran their way.

Professor Dumbledore was casting spell after spell. So far he was able to bring 2 wyverns down and a troll. He was casting spells unknown to all the teachers. "_Chromatia!_" he bellowed as he pointed his wand at the wyvern. This rainbow-colored sphere stuck the wyvern. It froze up and turned into a statue as it fell down and shattered into oblivion.

Professor Lupin saw what the headmaster had just done._ 'The chromatic orb! But I thought that was forbidden!?'_ he thought to himself as he tried his best to drive back the trolls around him.

Eli was having the time of his life. Hacking and slashing any monster that came to his way. It seems that his strength when he's a dragoon multiplies more than ten times a normal man's strength. He divided the trolls into two as he slaughtered his way among the enemy's ranks.

Soon, the battle was over. A lot of students were injured. Fortunately, there was no casualty. With the combined help of Eli, Harry and the rest of the teachers, they were able to prevent any casualty. The other monsters that were left fled for its life. But something wasn't right. It wasn't over.

Darkness started to fill the whole place. Sadness and sorrow was once again present in Harry's heart.

"Dementors!" he called out to everyone. He cast-out his Patronus as it wildly ran and searched the Dementors. But the Dementors didn't even flinch to the Patronus' attcks.

"They are no ordinary Dementors, Harry! Use this, call out lumina! It is the divine light spell. That is the only thing that can eradicate those dementors!" Eli called out.

'_Lumina!' _he called out in his mind. Blinding light was present again. This time, there was some sort of hymn that can be heard. It was so subtle, so warm. The Dementors could be seen burning alive as it somehow screeched. One by one, they burned into ashes. And the light was gone.

Harry landed to the ground. Muscle-sore, and spent. He sat at one of the benches of a house table. He could see as all the corpse of the monsters turn into ashes and disappear.

"That is what happens when a creature has joined in-league of Tom Riddle." Dumbledore said as he went to Harry's place and sat beside him. With the flick of his finger, the Great Hall was neat again, except for the damaged ceiling and the destroyed door.

"Harry, call out all the students in Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, tell Elijah to get the other two houses to come here. I have an important announcement," he said as he looked into Harry's eyes with seriousness.

Harry had no choice but to obey. He wondered _'Why am I supposed to be the one to call out Ravenclaw?'_ then he called out Eli telepathically _'Eli, orders from the headmaster. Go get Slytherin and Hufflepuff to come down here. Dumbledore has an important announcement,'_ he said as he glanced over to where Eli was. He looked at Harry and nodded as he flew away.

Harry flew his way also to the Gryffindor Tower. He went inside the Common Room to find it packed with almost all the students of the house in there.

"Dumbledore. He wants all of us to come down. Important announcement. Don't worry, the monsters are no more," he said reassuringly.

"What was that all about anyway!?" asked Dean as he seemed to be shaken by the turn of events.

"It'll be explained later. C'mon, you wouldn't want to be late. Dumbledore's pissed I think," he said as he left the Common Room.

He made his way to the Ravenclaw portrait entrance. He didn't know the password.

"Please! I need to get in! Professor Dumbledore has ordered me to call them to the Great Hall," he pleaded.

"Sorry, young man. No password? NO ENRTY!" just then, the portrait hole swung open and Roger Davies came out.

"Potter! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be there fending the monsters off?!" he asked as he looked at Harry with surprise. Harry and Roger's relationship was fine. They never talked that much though.

"Dumbledore told me to make you all come back to the Great Hall. The attackers are gone. It's safe now. Go! Dumbledore's not in a good mood!" With that, Harry soared away and just as he left, Cho went out the Portrait Hole. She saw Harry's traces as red glowing dusts where falling down like snow after Harry passed it.

Soon enough, the whole Great Hall was packed with students again. This time all of them had loads of questions. They wanted to know why all these have happened. And why attack Hogwarts?

Harry sat between Hermione and Ron, whom as soon as he got down, barraged him with questions. Eli too had a fair share of interrogations from Fred, George, Seamus and Dean.

Professor Dumbledore stood up and cleared his mouth to get the people's attention. "What had just happened earlier was a demonstration of what is happening in the streets of the cities of England today. All sorts of creatures have joined Voldemort's cause. As you can see, two of your fellow students helped prevent casualties from this attack. Harry Potter and Elijah Austin, please stand up and be recognized."

As soon as Professor Dumbledore was finished, murmurs all over the room was heard. Harry and Eli stood up from their seats as more murmurs were heard. Apparently, they were still wearing their battle armors.

"These two brave men are no ordinary human. They are dragoons. Elijah is a full-blood while Harry is half. Dragoons are dragon knights, their blood is mixed with a dragon's. They can do a lot of things that any of us can't. They can understand ancient magic that any normal person, including me, cannot understand. They have come to our aid, just as the wyverns have come to Voldemort's aid. The tides are dark nowadays; therefore, I shall assign these two as Hogwarts' Elite Guards. Prefects will answer to the head boy and head girl, the both will answer to them and they shall answer to me. When something like this happens, it is imperative that they are to be alarmed,"

The Hall fell silent. They were still trying to take in all these facts that Professor Dumbledore has given. Harry chanced a look over the teacher's table. All of them looked serious. Lupin was very exhausted from the battle. He had scars and his robes were torn. So did the other teachers. Even Professor Snape was too spent to give him a look of disgust. The Slytherins too were too shaken to comment on what Professor Dumbledore had said. Needless to say, this is just the beginning.

_oSomewhere…o_

A man with serpent-like face sat in a throne. A throne that had skulls at its edges. And beside him stood a man. This man was Wormtail.

"Master, the school is vulnerable to the attack. But there were no casualties. The dragoons, master! They are in league with Dumbledore!" he informed.

"If they have dragoons with them, I also have a counterpart," he hissed. "Nassil!" he called out.

From the ceiling of what seemed like Voldemort's fortress soared a wyvern. But this wyvern was different. It had armor all over him. And a rider was on his back, a drow. A fallen high elf. Once one of the most beautiful beings that walked this earth. He was dark. He too wore an armor, an armor that seemed enchanted. He carried a long bow that was on his back along with the quivers. He also carried a rapier. A scimitar, but it was thin all the way to the tip.

"This, my servant is Nassil. He is the leader of the stewards of wyverns. They are the only one's that equal the dragoons," Voldemort hissed proudly to Wormtail who was in awe.

"I offer my allegiances to the Dark Lord. And the Dark Lord alone," said Nassil. His eyes were different. The colors of his eyes were inverted. And you can read from his eyes all the anguish, the malice and anger.

_oBack At Hogwartso_

A week has passed since the attack. The students a more weary than ever. Constant vigilance was in their minds. They were keen to their surroundings. Ever watchful for anything unusual that happens. Even the centaurs along with the other creatures that go about the Forbidden Forest are mindful of the situation at hand.

Never the less, everyone tried to make things back to normal. Qudditch practices were more constant. So that they students would be distracted a bit from worrying. Provided that there is a teacher at watch. George has been elected as the team captain and Fred as his co-captain. Since they were the eldest in the team, they took it to themselves to take charge. Finding their new chasers wasn't that hard. Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan and much to Harry's amusement; Colin Creevy was up for the task. ("Oh bugger. It's gonna be a long school year! I'll tell you that!" he told Ron as they started training.) Roger Davies was chosen as team captain for Ravenclaw, and Zacharias Smith was also chosen as captain for Hufflepuff. And much to everyone's ALMOST everyone's dismay and surprise, Draco Malfoy was chosen as captain. Harry couldn't help but smile a bit. He stopped his overgrowing dislike for Malfoy ever since he apologized to him.

Harry and Cho also found some time for themselves to get together. They kept their relationship as a secret to themselves since it's been known to the public that Cho was going out with Michael Corner. Harry couldn't help but feel very jealous when Michael and Cho were together. Cho however could only smile. She still can't find the right time to dump Michael. "He seems too kind to hurt" Cho said to Harry in one of their discussions about this topic. They would intentionally walk the same path everyday just to see each other. Every time that they would get too sweet in public, they would just explain that they were best friends. And everyone seems to buy it since hugging seemed as a Standard Operating Procedure for both of them.

Classes were much more intense. Professor Snape was more hellish than ever. He would make the students concoct very complex potions like the potion of invisibility, and the like. DADA however was more interesting than ever. Professor Lupin moved his classes to the Room of Requirement as Harry had suggested. He was allowed to teach the Chromatic Orb hex to 6th and 7th year students. "It's the only spell that can equal the Killing Curse. If you concentrate well enough, when the spell hits your target, he would be either petrified or shattered into smithereens. But it if ever you do not get that, the spell will only work like a normal magic missile spell. The students seem to get the hang of it since almost everyone anticipates their DADA classes everyday. There was no more need for DA, since Professor Lupin has called on for Harry and Eli as his assistants whenever they had a free time.

December was near. And everyone eagerly waits for an announcement about Christmas Balls. Snow started to fall as early as the first week. The teachers seemed to be in good spirits since they haven't been giving a heavy load of homework. Harry and Cho find their selves a lot meeting in the Astronomy Tower. It seems that being without each others company was bad for them. But still, Michael Corner was a problem for the both of them.

It was time for breakfast. Two more weeks and then it'll be Christmas. Everyone's all hyped up to go to Hogsmead in the weekend. And everyone was still waiting for the announcement of the Christmas Ball.

"Attention everyone," Professor Dumbledore called out as he stood up. "On the 18th of December, there will be a Christmas a ball. All year levels are welcome to join. The attire will be semi-formal, but please do not wear your school uniform. Muggle attire is also allowed. The ball starts at 6:00pm and will end midnight. Also, students are allowed not to come with dates, but it doesn't mean that you aren't allowed to have a date. Now, enjoy your meal!" with this said, the Hall was filled with ecstatic murmuring.

As Harry walked the corridors of Hogwarts, girls have been ambushing him to be his date. Whenever this would happen, he would have to make excuses. Some of the girls that invited him would put up quite a fight but failed up to avail.

Just as he was on his way to the Gryffindor tower, he saw a pair of shadows. A boy's and a girl's. With his curiosity driving him mad, Harry went to check. The sight he saw in front of him gave quite a shocker. It was Michael and Parvati. They were kissing. Just then he felt his eyes covered. And a whisper in his ear.

"Guess who?" said a girl cheerfully. Harry knew it was Cho. But he didn't want to call her out. He didn't want to see her get hurt as Michael and Parvati still continue to do their lip-lock session, unmindful of their audience.

"Cho" he said briefly. Cho moved to his side and froze as she saw the scene before them. Michael and Parvati finally noticed this and Michael was in disarray. He was in trouble, yes indeed.

"CHO! I can explain!" he pleaded up to no avail. Tears started to cascade from Cho's eyes as she stood there in shock. Harry, knowing that if she continued to just stand there it would be mayhem, did the right thing and tried to pull Cho away. But Cho didn't let him.

"I thought you were better than that, Michael," she said. And before anything else happened. She gave Michael a hard slap on the cheek which made his right cheek burn deep red. She gave Parvati a look that could be interpreted as 'have a nice life' and she took off. As soon as she took of Harry tore after her.

Cho ran as fast as she could toward the lake. She couldn't believe that Michael would do that to her. She always thought that Michael was a great person. Needless to say, she was free again. Free for Harry. But can she just step into another relationship?

"Cho!" Harry called out as he caught up with her by the lake. As if on cue, Cho flung her arms around him. She was sobbing. And Harry could only hold her.

"Its gonna be fine.." he said as he rocked he while saying some very soothing words. Cho however just continued to sob on Harry's shoulder. As soon as Cho had stop crying, they sat under a tree. Cho was still in Harry's arms. She felt relaxed when Harry held him. He made her feel warm, something that she never felt when Michael held her.

"What happens now?" she asked.

"I don't know…"

They stayed there as long as they could. Until it was time for dinner. They walked back to the Great Hall in silence. Harry was quite thankful that the butterflies in his stomach had gone when Cho was there. It seems like he's used to be near her.

Harry made her sit in the Gryffindor Table since another encounter with Michael might cause an uproar between the both of them. Both of them received quite a large amount of looks, even some of Cho's friends went to the Gryffindor Table to ask her if something was wrong. She'd only tell them that she'll explain ever thing later and that he can't bear to sit near Michael Corner that's why she's sitting on the Gryffindor table.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked Cho as Cho sat down in between Harry and Hermione. Cho was still looking miserable. It felt so bad to be cheated. Harry knew that, and he could only be there for her.

"Michael. He… he cheated!" Cho said in an almost whisper-like tone to Hermione. She was about to burst into tears again but she bit her lip and Harry putted her on the back gently.

"That bloody git!" Ron said as he looked awfully surprise with his tone rising after every word. "I knew he was a good-for-nothing! It's a good thing that Ginny ditched her!" he said indignantly. But this didn't seem to help Cho.

"Shut you orifice, Ron!" Hermione scolded as Ron gave her a 'what-did-I-do?' look.

As soon as they were done eating, Cho got up to leave. Harry followed suit but he saw that her friends were after her too. '_Better leave it to them._' He thought. Cho came back to Harry and hugged him. "Thanks, Harry," she whispered as she gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

Harry was yet again frozen. Ron and the others' catcalling was blurred away from his ears. He was trying to evaluate the last situation. Again she caught him off-guard.

"I think I'm going to have the best Christmas yet…" Harry muttered to himself as he touched his lips.


	8. No Matter What…

**Chapter 8: No Matter What… **

Days recently seem to crawl very slowly. Much to Harry's delight, he got to spend more time with Cho than usual. Every time that they could spare some time from their schedules, they would meet up by the lake just to enjoy each other's company. They still had this unspoken bond between them. Technically, they weren't a couple yet. Even though Cho is free from Michael, she wanted a little breath before taking the plunge in to another relationship.

The people were still in a buzz about the upcoming Christmas Ball. Harry was still getting ambushed by girls of different characters. Cho couldn't help but laugh at him. Elijah was able to ask a very pretty 6th year Hufflepuff named Dayna Walker. She had long dark brown hair and brilliant brown eyes. She truly was a sigh for sore eyes. He seems quite contented with it. Harry and Malfoy were getting along pretty well. Somehow, they have a lot of things in common. If he wasn't spending time with

"So Harry, who are you going to ask for the Ball?" Ron asked with a rather sarcastic tone with a hint of mockery in it.

"I don't know," Harry said as he tried his best to look innocent as he found the ceiling of the Great Hall as the most fascinating thing on earth. "Wait, how bout you, Ron. Found the courage to ask Hermione?" Harry was able to turn the tables. Ron decided to stop and concentrated on eating his food as he went crimson red. Harry could only laugh as Hermione gave them an eyebrow and muttered something under her breath "Boys" she said.

Just then, Zacharias Smith went to the Gryffindor table. He still had this arrogant aura with him. But this time, he wasn't heading for Harry, he was heading for Ron.

"Hey, Weasley. Enjoying you meal there, I see," he started with his normal rhythm. "Sod off, Smith. My meal's far too much of importance than bickering with you, you no-brainer," Ron replied without turning back to look at Smith. "Why don't we step outside and finish this once and for all then, what do you say? Or are you just too scared to fight?" It sure sounded like a challenge to Harry's ears. This seemed to have stricken a nerve to Ron. He got up, still not facing Smith with his head down. Slowly, he turned around and raised his head. He was really angry.

"Bring it, GIT!" he whispered to Smith as he stormed off the Great Hall, receiving a lot of suspicious looks from the crowd.

"Smith! What was that all about?!" Harry hissed lightly so that no one would hear except Smith. "Don't worry. I'm not going to fight him. I just want to talk to him." He said as he took off.

After 15 minutes, Ron went in. Almost everyone fell silent. Ron's face was expressionless. He made his way to his seat as Zacharias went in, he however had a rather happy face.

"What happened?" Harry asked as Ron sat down. "He… He… He's asking permission…" he stuttered. Hermione, Harry, Eli, Fred and George were all looking at him, still waiting for him to continue.

"He's asking permission to ask Ginny to the Ball……" This seemed to be the bomb that was waiting to be cast off. All of them were in state of shock.

"The bloody hell he will!" Fred exclaimed. George could only nod in shock.

"Well, what did you say?" Harry asked. Ron could just shrug as he asked this. He felt guilty somehow. "Well… I… I… I said It's ok…"

"YOU WHAT?!" Fred roared making Eli, who was near him, spit the food that was in his mouth to Dean's face. ("Nice," Seamus commented sarcastically at Eli's work of art) "OF ALL PEOPLE RON! OF ALL PEOPLE!" George added.

"Easy Fred, George. Believe it or not, Smith's a changed man! He even said sorry to me! He promised to change for the better," Harry interrupted, receiving shocked looks from Fred and George.

"No…" said George which sounded like halfway from a gasp and a whisper. "Are you pulling my leg, Harry?" Fred asked disbelievingly. Never have they expected this to happen.

"Well, you'll have to give him the benefit of the doubt, he knelt before me," Ron said who apparently, was still in shock as Hermione continued to pat his back.

That comment was too much to take. Even Dean and Seamus who happened to be drinking their pumpkin juices spat at each other. "Oooof! That'll leave a mark!" Eli commented as the others laughed their heads off.

They continued discussing the matter regarding Smith until the end of the week. Friday came like a gust of wind. So swift, that the "Smith matter" was completely over with. But Harry still had matters of his own.

He searched the Hall that morning for a sign of his raven-haired-friend. He found her, sitting with her friends as she usually did in the Ravenclaw table. For the fist time in a long time, he was seeing the old Cho; oh so cheerful and light. She appeared to be having fun. He summoned all the courage he could summon. And then he marched towards the Ravenclaw table.

"Cho, could I have a word with you?" _'Giggling should really be made illegal! Their giggles don't make this any easier!' _he complained in his head. His voice happened to be shaking while he was speaking. Cho could only join her friends as they giggled.

"Alright," she said as she got up and left the Hall with Harry.

"Do you know that giggling should be made illegal here in Hogwarts?" he said as he leaned one shoulder to the wall as he faced Cho who was leaning her back on the wall. "I can see why. Your voice was shaking like hell back there. Sorry about that," she said as she pinched Harry's nose. She was fond of doing that to Harry whenever she was feeling jolly. Harry however found it hard to concentrate. He was staring blank into her eyes. He was so captivated by her; he seemed to be drifting, dazed as Cho's action seemed to go slow-motion. Her smiles, her voice, her eyes, everything. Suddenly he snapped back to reality.

"Are you planning to make me melt? You've been staring at me for the past few minutes without even saying a word!" she said as she giggled.

"Hey… I was wondering…" Harry started. He was having a hard time getting out what he wanted to say. He wasn't used to this. Cho tried to look sympathetic to him at the same time tried to prevent herself from laughing.

"Yes?" she asked, as Harry looked down to their shoes.

"Well, I was wondering… If… you know… tomorrow… if…-" he was cut of when Cho put a finger on Harry's lip.

"I'd love to," she said smiling brightly.

"Oh! No! I just wanted to ask you if you'd like to stay here in Hogwarts tomorrow than go to that silly Hogsmead thing!" Harry said mockingly as Cho hit his arm playfully.

"You'll pay for that, Potter!" she said hit him once again an eventually they ended up in each other's arms, leaning against the wall, all quiet, thinking of things to happen. Soon enough, it was time for their first class. People started coming out of the Great Hall so they decided to break apart. They waited for their friends to come out of the Hall. Cho's usual group of giggling friends or as Harry would like to call them "giggle gang" came out. Cho caught Harry's forearm and dragged him towards them. _'Oh crap! Danger! Danger!'_ Harry thought in panic.

"Harry, I'd like you to meet my friends. This is Rhea," she said as she pointed out to Harry a girl with long red hair with green eyes. She was very pretty alright. And she had curves all on the right places.

"Hi there!" she said cheerfully as she waved at Harry. Harry could only smile and return the wave dumbly. Cho pointed out a girl; with short blonde hair with blue eyes, her name was Zoe. She also said hi and waved cheerfully at Harry. The other girl Cho pointed out has a long brown hair with grey eyes, her name was Jane. She also said hi and waved madly towards him.

"I guess I'll see you later," Harry addressed Cho. He was still smiling dumbly as Cho nodded and gave him a one-armed hug. "It was nice meeting all of you!" he said politely to them as if he was talking to an adult. They could only laugh.

Just as they left, Harry's group of friends came; Ron, Hermione, Fred and George (they decided to hang out with them since Lee Jordan and their other friends had already graduated) Eli and someone beside Eli that appeared to be Dayna Walker. She was pretty indeed. She was talking animatedly to Eli who was grinning madly. Harry found this quite amusing since Eli was more than a hundred years old, yet he likes someone who's just 16.

"Hey, Harry! What took you so long? We thought you were still going to comeback at the table," said Ron

"Cho introduced me to her friends," Harry said plainly as he forgot to answer Ron's question.

"Really now, I heard she has a really pretty best friend, you know. I reckon her name was Rhea Robinson," Ron said as Hermione looked a bit jealous as Harry observed. Harry could only laugh.

"Yeah, she's Cho's best friend, eh? That's nice," he said blankly as they stared to walk towards Hagrid's hut for their first subject.

Care for Magical Creatures class passed as normal as usual. Hagrid taught them how to take care of drakes. They were still small so they really didn't have a hard time during the whole process. Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall had already started introducing them to the basics of being an animagus. This certain topic was very complex to teach in just one sitting.

That night, Harry, Eli, Ron and Hermione were left in the common room. Apparently they had been trying to finish all their home works so that tomorrow wouldn't be such a hassle.

Harry had been very curious about his past, about Eli's past. Everything was still confusing to him. He wanted to know every thing. But somehow, he knew what was coming. He thinks he'll be just given another 'You'll know in time' line like Professor Dumbledore used to give him. But hey, he never learns.

"Eli," he started, making Eli, Ron and Hermione turn their heads to him.

"I want to know everything," he said while staring blankly into the fire. "I wanna know what I could do, what happened to my ancestor, who is my ancestor, who was the one who killed him, who betrayed him… All!" this comment made Ron and Hermione jump. But Eli remained cool, calm, and collected.

"I knew this was coming. You can't just help it can you?" before Harry could open his mouth to answer, Eli started "Wraife was my brother. He was Octavius' first protégé. He was the cream of the crop. He was the high general of the whole dragoon army. Brax was his best friend. He was named second in command. He was as great as Wraife in the art of fighting. The only advantage Wraife had was his sword; the equalizer. It is… or at least was a powerful long sword forged by the dwarves and enchanted by the high elves as a gift to him for aiding them in their campaign against orcs and goblin raiders," he started.

"High elves? What do they look like?" Hermione asked making Harry and Ron's head turn so swift towards her direction. The all knowing Hermione Granger was asking questions.

"High elves are the most beautiful creatures that ever graced this earth. Their radiance is unparallel to any other creation. They were supposedly the most perfect race. Too few of the men can see them nowadays. The so called house elves, that you see nowadays is a cross between goblins and elves before. Their mere purpose is to serve," after having said this, Eli received a half-cold, half-shocked stare from Hermione.

"SEE! House elves are MEANT to serve!" Ron said with an indignant voice.

"We're going off topic! C'mon, continue Eli," Hermione said as she ignored Ron's comment

"As I was saying, Wraife was Ronus' protégé, Ronus taught him and Brax all that he knew about life's lore; all the mysteries of life, and the ways of the dragoon. Wraife was able to call upon one of the Red Dragons as his guardian, while Brax was able to invoke the one of the Great Black Dragons, the demi-god race of all dragons…"

"Hold on. What happened to the Hungarian Horntail? Or the Chinese Fireball?" Ron interrupted. "Those are just mere descendants of these ancient dragons; they aren't even half as fierce or as wise as they are. Plus, these ancient dragons can speak human tongue. They are able to communicate with all of us back then," Eli explained as Ron's jaw dropped lower.

"As the years passed, the dragoons live prosperous; they have won every single battle against the wyverns and their stewards. No one on earth was able to beat Wraife and Brax's tandem. They were the one-two punch of our army. But Brax seemed to want more. He was facing all sorts of demons in his life; his father fell in one of the great battles and his mom grieved dearly for this and she practically lost her mind. Brax was left alone in sadness and loneliness. Wraife couldn't do anything but pity him. There was also the fact that the peoples that time took Brax as just Eli's shadow. Brax grew tired of all these and evil took the best of him. He started defecting to the enemy. He taught them the dragoon's very weaknesses: poison, and pain of their friends. With the knowledge they got from Brax, the drows devised a plan, a plan to wear down dragoons. They started drawing allegiances with orcs, trolls, and the likes. They would ambush every dragoon dispatch they would see. The dragoons' numbers grew thin by the moment, and by that time, all of us knew the treachery Brax had done, and with that, Octavius banished him from Draconia, the kingdom of the dragoons. Seeing the events that would take place in the near future, Octavius devised his counter-plan. He gathered his own force, a force that was made up of the elves, dwarves and early men. With this, Nassil and Brax's army marched under one banner against Octavius' army one last time. This war was the one to decide all; if the dragoons should win, Nassil and Brax are forthwith banished from the void of earth, earning them a sentence of life imprisonment inside the veil. While if Octavius' army loses, no dragoon or any of its ally would be left alive,"

"Who is Nassil anyways?" Harry asked.

"Nassil is the high king of the drows, the fallen elves. They are elves that chose to live underground. They are bitter and arrogant. They too have the same capability as the elves. Their armors are very special, since any man of any other race tried to use one of their own armors, it would shatter once sunlight has hit it," Hermione explained to Harry.

"Hermione, you really do read a lot. I'm really pleased to know that at least someone here knows about the ancient times!" Eli praised. "Oh please, she knows every god-damned thing…" Ron exasperated as Hermione gave him a mighty whack on the back ("OUCH! That hurts, you know!" he cried out loud sarcastically as he tried to run his back.)

"Serves you right," Hermione muttered bitterly.

"Anyway, I think I've said enough. When the time is right, when the stars say when it is, I shall finish my tale. For now, we need to rest. There is a big day ahead of us, especially you Harry. I've heard you're going out with Cho!" Eli teased as Harry felt his cheeks light up in a tint of red.

"Well, yeah… But aren't YOU going out with Dayna too?" Harry countered as it was Eli's turn to blush. "Wow Eli, I never thought that a century-old dragoon like you would ever fall for a decade-old teenage girl like Dayna Walker," Ron added as if he was aiding Harry into embarrassing Eli.

"Oh shut up, you lot! Don't worry, Ron. I will get you when I get complete details about your own love life!" Eli announced indignantly to Ron who looked horror-struck as if he felt someone reading his mind. Eli could only wink at Harry and laugh a bit.

"Well, I'm off to bed now. Goodnight, you lot," Hermione said as she rolled her eyes and got up to walk up to the girls' dormitories. Harry, Ron, and Eli also went up to their own dormitories.

The next day, Harry woke up at around 7:30 am. _'Perfect'_ he mused. He had enough time to get ready and eat some breakfast before they leave for Hogsmead which will be at 8am.

When Harry got down the common room, he saw Eli, wearing his normal muggle clothes, but had wings on his back. He was in an Indian sit position while floating in the air. He was supposedly meditating when Harry went down.

"An early bird, eh? Harry," Eli said as he slowly opened his eyes and landed on the ground. "How did you do that? Having wings without transforming completely," he asked with a very puzzled look on his face.

"That, Harry, is what I'm going to teach you next time we train. The weekend after the Christmas Ball would be fine, right Harry?" he said.

"Oh well, fine with me. Hey, I'm gonna head down now. You want to come with me to the Great Hall and grab a bite?" Harry offered as Eli nodded.

"So, heard any news from Octavius?" Harry asked casually as they walked on the corridors. "Well, he has agreed with Albus to place 50 dragoons here as primary guards. I'll be taking charge of these people, and I am assigning you as my second-in-command officer," Eli said blankly as he opened the doors of the Great Hall. Harry though, was still shocked by this sudden news.

"Hey, sorry to say this but, can I leave you for a moment? I need to settle some important business…" Eli asked as a mischievous grin crept up his face. Harry scanned the whole Hall when he was a long brown haired girl sitting on the Hufflepuff Table, eating breakfast with her friends. Harry nodded and patted him on the back and said "You go get her, tiger!"

As Harry went to the Gryffindor table, Draco went over to join him. "Heya Harry, you going to Hogsmead?" Draco asked. "Yep, I'm going with Cho, 'bout you?" Harry asked as he helped himself with some bacons and eggs. Just then a girl with long red hair and a pair of green brilliant eyes came in. It was Rhea Robinson, Cho Chang's best friend.

"I'm going with her," Draco announced proudly as Harry could only gape. Rhea was without a doubt, one of Hogwarts' finest. She's very pretty and had curves all over the right places. Like Cho, she's extremely intelligent, although she is a muggle-born. She then walked up to the Gryffindor table to join Harry and Draco.  
"Hey there," she chirped cheerfully at Draco who blushed deep red. "Hi there, Harry!" she greeted as both Draco and Harry got up. "Have a seat," said Draco, apparently, Harry was still munching the food in his mouth, Draco and Rhea could only give a hearty laugh.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Well, you are!" Rhea exclaimed as she pointed on Harry.

"Well, well, I've heard you two are going out today?" Harry teased as he nudged Draco playfully who blushed crimson once more along with Rhea.

"Well, yes. But I heard you and Cho too will go!" She returned the favor of making him blush.

All three of them let out a hearty laugh when Harry felt a pair of arms wrap around his chest. Then a pretty face crept on his right shoulder, it was Cho who was wearing a big smile. Once again, Draco and Rhea let out a laugh. Cho sat beside Harry and looked puzzled at the sight of Rhea sitting in the Gryffindor table.

"Rhea, what are you doing sitting here- NO WAY! You and Malfoy!" she said disbelievingly with utter surprise written all over her face. Harry played with her by pretending to wipe her whole face with his hand; Cho didn't seem to like it so she shoved his hand and gaped back at Rhea.

"Yes. We're going out today. Why? What's wrong about it? You said it yourself that he's a changed man! I had to see it for myself!" she defended as she blushed a bit when hers and Draco's eyes met.

"I know, but… Nevermind!" she said as she gave up trying to argue.

"Well, it's about time to head for Hogsmead. We'll see you around later!" Draco started as he began to get up to leave. Rhea took the cue and did the same. "Bye you two, we'll meet up with you later!" Rhea said as she took one of Draco's arms and turned to leave. Harry could swear that Draco wore a very big smile when Rhea grabbed his arm. Cho could just wave and sigh.

"Quite a girl, isn't she?" Harry asked Cho who was looking a bit worried for her best friend. "Yeah… Don't you think it's too fast… I mean, them?"

"Hey, why not give it a chance, you'll never know, right?" Harry said optimistically as he flashed Cho a smile.

"That's what I like so much about you, Potter!" Cho commented as she rumpled Harry's already rumpled hair. "Well, come on now! You don't want to be left, right?" Harry said as he got up and extended an arm for Cho to reach.

"Quite a gentleman, are we now, Harry?" said Cho in mock surprise.

Harry and Cho went to the line outside the Oak doors. There they found Eli and Dayna, talking merrily together, Draco and Rhea who were also engaged in an animated conversation, Dean and Ginny who seems to just stare each other as if they were waiting for the 4th of July to take place. And finally, there was Ron and Hermione who seemed to be arguing about something. Harry could only laugh.

"They never out-grew that trait of theirs…" Harry explained as Cho gave him a questioning look.

Soon, Mr. Filch had already brought them to Hogsmead. All the students rushed to the stores, scanning and shopping for presents. Professor Lupin was also there, in a bookstore. Harry smile at the thought of Professor Lupin reading a book while sitting by the lake with his father playing catch by himself with the golden snitch and Sirius who just kept on laughing at Harry while trying to smooth talk the girls around him.

"What's so funny?" Cho asked as they walked in the streets. Just then, snowflakes started falling from the skies. "Snow!" Cho chirped merrily. Harry smiled as Cho raised her arms up to catch the falling snowflakes. She looked like a little kid, gravely overjoyed with the snow falling down to his face. As soon as she stopped, Harry went to her and asked her if she wanted to eat, she nodded and they headed for the Three Broomsticks.

As soon as they got a table for them, Harry ordered the food. He saw Cho still staring at the snow from the window with a reminiscent look on her face. "I've always loved snow. My mum used to bring me to the hills near our house before just to play with the snow. May dad would often help me build a snowman, then we'd play snow fight all day long. Cedric and I did the same 2 years ago." She whispered to Harry as she kept her eyes locked on the snow, outside the window.

"I miss them, Harry. I feel so alone… I've lost my brother when I was 6, he had this really bad disease. My mum and dad grieved a long time because of that. I just miss them so!" she said as she burst into tears. Harry, who seemed to be frozen by this outburst, tried to restart his systems and try to evaluate his next move. He went over to Cho's position to give her a hug.

"It will be fine, soon enough… I promise you, I won't stop till I bring Voldemort down," Harry whispered reassuringly to her._ 'So, Cho had a brother, eh?' _he though to himself. "But what if he takes you too?! What would happen to me, then? I need you, Harry!" she said as she rested her head to his shoulders. Harry said some soothing words to her then said "I'll never leave you, as long as I have you, I'll always come back. I'll always come back to you, no matter the cost,"

Noticing that their position was a bit too much in public, Harry decided to retreat to his seat. Just then, their food arrived; both of them ate their meals silently, exchanging pleasant smiles at each other whenever their gazes met. Soon after, when they were done talking, Ron and Hermione came towards their table.

"Hey you two, how's it going there?" Ron greeted as they approached Harry and Cho's table. "Fine, fine… and you lot? What have you been up to?" Cho was the one who answered since Harry was still in a trance staring in the blankness of space.

"Hey, Harry! What are you so busy staring at?!" Hermione snapped as she finally got annoyed with Harry who apparently had ignored their presence.

_oInside Harry's Mind…o_

"_My lord, our legion has already started gathering forces from across all the countries. In about a month's time we shall be prepared to attack," said a dark, gloomy voice._

"_Very well then. What tidings does the dark lord bring however?" said a very cold voice, which made Harry shiver._

"_The dark lords says that he shall place his men in front of our ranks,"_

"_If he wishes so, then it shall be made done. Go forth and inform Zurax about these changes. After doing that, go back the dark lord's fortress and present this to him. Tell him that Nassil presents him a mighty artifact that would be of important use for the upcoming war," Nassil said as he laughed wickedly as he sat on his throne._

_The servant, who appeared to be the one Nassil had been talking to, took his final bow and was gone in thin air like the dragoons do._

_oBack to Realityo_

"HARRY!" Harry felt a hand crash into his left cheek; it burned hot as it hit him. He was suddenly disconnected from the chain of thoughts that he was interpreting in his mind. When he was finally fully aware of his surroundings, he received cold and worried glares from Ron and Hermione's and a questioning look from Cho.

"Oh! Wha! Sorry! I wasn't paying attention," he confessed as he scrambled to regain focus.

"Oh it's useless! We'll just see you guys later!" Hermione said as she let out a frustrated shrug. Both she and Ron exited Three Broomsticks Inn. Cho let out a little giggle when they were already out of the Inn, this seemed to have caught Harry's attention.

"They were calling your name loads of times, you know," she informed as Harry let out a flustered sigh. His vision made his head a bit worked up and with Ron and Hermione getting a bit upset with him, things weren't any better. "I guess I'd have to apologize for that later,"

Cho seemed to have read his mind, the atmosphere suddenly changed. "When will the sorrow end?" she asked him. Harry was a bit surprised when she asked him, but he knew perfectly well what she meant to say. She has lost her whole family over the summer and that sure is hard to cope with.

"I can't give you the answer, but soon enough, it will come. And everything will be back to normal again," he said. _'But what is the meaning of normal?'_ he thought.

"How could it be normal without my parents? How could it be normal without my brother?!" she asked him again. She was at the verge of tearing up again. But she bit her lower lip and stopped herself from crying.

Harry was caught in the spur of the moment; he needed something good to say to help Cho lighten up. Whatever he would say here would have to be really nice. Or else…"I know this'd be a bit weird but, whatever happens, I'd do everything with what I can do to bring your family back," Harry promised. This is it. He can't change what he said. He'd have to fulfill that promise he just made.

"Now, feel like taking a walk?" he asked as he tried to change the subject. Cho seemed to have taken the cue and nodded in agreement.


	9. Beyond the Horizon, the Return to the Ha

**Chapter 9: Beyond the Horizon, the Return to the Haven of Wings **

_oFlashbacko_

_The day was gloomier beyond anyone's imagination. Never would the peoples all over the world have ever thought of taking up arms to take their stand in this war. A man- a dragoon stood on a hill; observing the horizon. He was wearing red plate mail armor, complete with the gauntlets, bracers, thigh guards, and mythril boots. His wings flamboyantly flapped behind him as he began to hover away from the hill. Behind him was a legion of dragoons, dragons, dwarves, men and elves; all suited for battle, anxiously waiting for their foes. The man once more laid its gaze to the horizon which was now darkening. He approached another dragoon who was in the front line of the ranks and was wearing the same armor he wore; only his was sapphire blue._

"_Elijah, should something happen in this battle, look over my descendants. They will hold the key. Teach them the arts and the ways of the dragoons. Promise me that," the man pleaded to Elijah who looked so young, yet mature._

"_I would do so. But do not think of such ill-fated thoughts, brother. We will win this battle and all of us would come back alive!" Eli ensured. Courage can be seen through the fire in his eyes. He was trained by his own brother since they were young. _

_Just as then, a swarm of wyvern with its stewards assembled from the horizon. Along with them were creatures so malicious, the ground trembled, and the skies were scorched. Orcs, trolls, goblins, leeches, and corrupted men stood before them in with dark malicious aura cascading from them. The stench of their evil hearts stank from their location to all over the plains. _

"_This is it," the man muttered to himself._

_  
oEnd of Flashbacko_

It was 2:00 am, normally, students are up their dorms; sleeping. And so they were, except for one. Eli was sat on a couch by the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. He sat there, recollecting memories he had from the past. Painful memories it seems as his face turned sour and weary by the moment.

_'That mustn't happen again. I promised him, so I should keep my oath,'_ he thought to himself.

He tried channeling all his thoughts away from those painful memories. He thought of one his most recent experiences. His body twitched, his insides tingled at the thought of the day when Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was attacked by wyverns and trolls.

_oFlashbacko_

_Eli and Harry decided to split up and try to prevent as much damage as possible dealt to the school. Troll after wyvern, Eli slain. He was one of the best in their race in the arts of dueling with a sword._

_Just then, he saw a student desperately running away from the battlegrounds of the Great Hall from a wyvern. The wyvern eventually caught up with her and caught her with its claws. She let out a yelp of desperation to anyone who'd heed her call. Eli took notice of this and tore after the fleeing wyvern. With all the speed he could muster, he sped upwards in the air, hoping that he would catch up with the wyvern. Within a matter of seconds, he reached the wyvern. A girl of an age of around sixteen was struggling with one of the wyvern's claws. The wyvern seemed to take notice of Eli's presence as it pounce its head towards Eli. Eli however has faster reflexes than the wyvern's making him evade the attacks of his assailant so easy. But he wasn't expecting a hit from behind which caught him off guard since he was coaxing to return attack. The wyvern had happened to whack him with its tail on his back. The attack that the wyvern had just done proved to be only of instinct since the wyvern had been unable to pierce his sharp poisonous pin. Eli took this window of opportunity to slice the wyvern's head off. He raised his sword which he held with his right hand to his left, and with one swift powerful blow, the head of the wyvern came off._

_The wyvern's lost its grip from the girl as she started freefalling from the very ceiling of Hogwarts. She was screaming for help as she laid her gaze towards Eli. Eli rushed to her aid as fast as he dared. The red glittery dusts that he left slowly turned into a fiery slipstream. He's beginning to close in on the girl as he sped faster and faster. Just as he reached the girl, he held on to the girl and pulled up as fast as he could. As soon as Eli had regained his balance, he took a glance over the girl's face. 'So pretty' he thought to himself. The girl's brown eyes sparkled before him as he stared at her. Her long brown hair was let loose in a fashion that caught Eli's attention very much. Fear was written all over her face however as Eli held her close. He landed on the part of the Great Hall that he could ever think of._

"_Run to your common room! Tell the others in your common room not to leave the tower until Dumbledore says so!" he told the girl as the girl ran out of sight._

_oEnd of Flashbacko_

Eli's head started to feel heavy and very drowsy. He had been up for hours; thinking of the recent events and the events in the past that haunted him up to this moment.

"Harry would have to know all of these… All in due time though," he said to himself with a sigh. He picked himself up from the couch and dragged his body to the dormitory. Sleep has finally overcome his body.

It was a cold Sunday, yet no matter how cold it was the spirits of the students in Hogwarts warmed up the atmosphere. Everyone seems to be busying themselves by preparing for the upcoming Christmas Ball and the Christmas Day itself. Presents that have been bought the day before are being wrapped in their dormitories. The house elves have already decorated the Great Hall accordingly, placing mistletoes all over the Great Hall and to the corridors as well.

Harry woke up to find that all his dorm already gone. He overslept by two hours it seems as he checked his watch that said 10:00 am.

"Damn it, Ron. You should have wakened me up!" he muttered annoyingly.

As soon as he went down to the common room, he was greeted by Dean who was playing wizard chess with Seamus.

"Morning Harry," Seamus greeted without leaving his gaze from the board as Dean waved towards him as he also glued his sight to the board. Harry continued to make his way towards the portrait hole when Colin Creevey stopped him from his tracks _'Oh brother'_ he thought. But this time, Colin wasn't armed with a camera like he usually does; moreover, he was wearing a rather mock-horrified face.

"I'd better be careful, Harry! They're all over out there for you! They're hunting you down! Especially Cho!" he warned. This sent shockwaves throughout Harry's spine. Without saying a word Harry tore away to the portrait hole. Although, he thought he heard someone laugh just when the portrait hole closed. Just outside the portrait hole, was an army of females from different years swarming towards Harry's direction.

"Uh-oh. Not good." He said to himself as he ran for his dear life as all the girls chased him madly.

Soon enough, he reached the Great Hall. Panting heavily, he searched the Hall for any signs of Fred and George, the only ones who could spare his sanity.

"I take it that you've already encountered the welcoming party?" came Fred's voice as he and George approached him from the Gryffindor table.

"W-Welcoming… Party?? Y-You You mean there's more?!" he asked in disbelief.

"But of course! That was just the Gryffindor faction of the Harry Potter fan club!" George added much to Harry's horror.

"Don't worry, Harry, you're safe here with us!" Fred said as he put a hand on one of Harry's shoulders.

"Hey you two, you're scaring me…" he said in a rather soft voice. Of all of Harry's short list of fears, a crowd of girls that's obsessed with him is definitely on his number 1 spot.

Just then, Eli, Ron and Hermione came in to the Great Hall; Ron and Eli were wearing looks of utter surprise while Hermione remained as nonchalant as ever.

"What's with all those girls out there, Harry? All of them are talking about you!" Ron started then let out a gasp and a mock look of utter shock. "-don't tell me! You didn't!?" he mocked as Harry felt much worse.

"Okay, that sucked." Ron finally said as he shrugged and sat down as he earned disappointed looks from Fred and George. ("Too little talent in playing pranks" Fred commented rather loudly. "Aye," George agreed as he nodded with his eyes closed and his arms folded.

After half an hour of waiting for Harry to come out, the "welcoming party" finally gave up and joined the Great Hall to eat.

"I wonder why is it that they chose only now to make their move…" Ron thought out loud, catching Hermione's attention.

"Well, you see, Ronald, things between Harry and Cho are now much more serious and that fact they cannot take. So, they decided that they'd take Harry for themselves," Hermione said in a rather matter-of-factly tone.

"But why me?" Harry interrupted.

"Who could resist the Boy Who Lived?" said a voice from behind which sent tingling sensations all over Harry's body. It was Cho, although she looked rather flushed.

"Hey, you! What happened to you?" asked Harry.

"Well, your fan club is just too persistent. They even have a branch in our house…" Cho muttered as Harry motioned her to sit beside him. Poor Cho however received glares from the girls all over the Great Hall.

"Looks like this year will prove to be very interesting," Eli mused aloud "Come to think of it, when's the next quidditch practice?" Harry asked George.

"Well, we can have it right after the break, and then it'll be non-stop training since our first game would be against Hufflepuff…" George replied while playing with his food.

"I've heard that they've managed to get a really good seeker, I wonder who that person is." Ron mused.

"That'd be my cousin, Jeremy Thomas," Dean said while still trying to chew his food earning him a slap at the back from Ginny. "YOUR cousin?!" Ron asked disbelievingly.

"Oh, he's good alright. They'll prove to be a tougher team to beat, you know…" Dean replied, this time he had no food in his mouth. "Hmm… Figures… Well, lets just sit back and enjoy the break, after that, it'd be hell." said George who earned shocked looks from Harry and the others. He was actually serious! "Well of course, a rightful amount of pranks would have to be filled! If I am not wrong, don't you think?" George added as he looked over to Fred for agreement. "But o'course!" muffled Fred who was eating roasted chicken as everyone laughed at him.

"Hey Harry, fell like having a game of chess?" Ron started; he always liked beating Harry so bad in chess. After all, this was one of the only things that he was better than Harry. "You're on!" Harry replied as the two of them marched up and went up to the doors. However, as they got up, so did some of the die-hard members of the Harry Potter club got up and followed suit.

"Hey Ron, feel like flying without a broom?" Harry asked as they stopped dead on his tracks. "What do you mean?" before Ron could make any further questions, Harry transformed in to a dragoon, heaved Ron up and soared away; making it impossible for the Harry Potter fan club to catch them.

"Bloody brilliant!" Fred cheered as Parvati Patil threw him a cold glare.

"Aww, please forgive my brother, he becomes a prat sometimes. Here, have a candy!" George offered innocently as Parvati took the candy and ate. As soon as she did so, her tongue suddenly enlarged, making all of the people in the Great Hall burst in laughter as most of the teachers scowled.

"George Weasley! 10 points from Gryffindor! Detention for you!" came Professor McGonagall's voice as she stormed towards the Gryffindor table and cast the counter curse to what George's toffee had done.

Sunday passed by like a turtle crossing the highway. Hermione kept stressing Harry and Ron to finish their essays for Potions and Transfiguration that was due the next day. Harry and Ron finally gave up and followed her orders only after Hermione decided to threat Ron to confiscate the wizard chess set.

The Gryffindor common room was awfully packed that day. Students read their books without mercy just like typical Ravenclaws do. Hermione had to move from each side of the common room to another as she attended on those who needed her help with their studies. Fred and George seemed to be planning new kinds of pranks in a corner causing almost everyone to avoid sitting near that spot; clearly, they didn't want to be a guinea pig for their pranks.

"Where's Eli?" Ron casually asked as he looked from Harry to Hermione for answers.

"Probably walking around the castle with Dayna…" Harry replied as he continued reading.

"That girl really got that old man's knickers, huh?" Ron asked once more. "Well, I think so. Eli's really fond of her, its good to see that some part of him is still like ours" Hermione said as a reply to Ron's question.

"She does know, doesn't she?" it was Hermione who asked this time as she faced Harry, looking for an answer. Harry simply gave her a nod as Hermione frowned a bit.

_oSomewhere…o_

In very huge and magnificent citadel, two old men were walking in its courtyard, one man was wearing an all white battle robe with a ring mail on top with a pair of wings elegantly stretched out as it was outlined with white, and clipped in his belt was a sheathed bastard sword.

"The boy's mind is clouded, he seems very aware of what's happening. That is not a good sign, Albus," the man told Albus Dumbledore who was walking beside him. "True. But he is showing great resilience to his weakness," Dumbledore pointed out as they strolled on around the courtyard. "The dark times are upon us, old friend. His strength will be much needed when the time comes. You have our side, yet there are only so little of us left. You would have to seek the others' help. Rest assured, your people and mine would be side by side again in battle, just like before," The old man reassured.

"That is most appreciated, Octavius, old friend," Dumbledore said. "The elves are currently massing an army to send as aid for the upcoming battle, it seems as if Olwë had another vision. He's moving ahead of us all," Dumbledore informed Octavius

"Ah, the great seer, Olwë, the High Lord of all Elves. He will be of invaluable use to our victory, like before," Albus Dumbledore, Octavius, and Olwë the seer had been companions for hundreds of years. They had given each other aid whenever it is needed, their trio has been well feared of by their foes ever since. The joined powers of the wizard, a dragoon, and an elf are not to be taken lightly.

_oAt the Riddle Houseo_

Tom Riddle, commonly known as Lord Voldemort, sat in his throne inside his family's house's dungeon. Beside him sat a drow; a fallen elf who seeks shelter underground, in darkness. Both were giving of tremendous amount of dark aura, tremendous enough to make all of the followers in the room tremble before them.

"Our forces are nearly in place, my lord," said the drow beside Voldemort who let out a cold and hysterical laugh that echoed throughout the halls of the dungeon. "At long last, open war will be set out and all the muggle-born will tremble before me, pleading for mercy, and I will slay them all!" he spoke as his followers joined in with his moment of manic laughter.

"I strongly advice that we continue to torment the young man's mind as you did before, my lord," the drow once again commented. "Indeed you are right, Nassil. Potter will have to suffer for surviving the death he should have had when I gave him the chance to die. Tell me, Nassil, what plans do you have for the dragoon, Elijah?" Voldemort asked Nassil.

"I shall personally deal with him. He and I have a score to settle,"

_oBack at Hogwartso_

Under a tree near the lake just outside Hogwarts lay Elijah, whose head rested upon the lap of the 6th year Hufflepuff named Dayna Walker. They had been spending time together more often. As she stroked Eli's long black hair, Eli found peace and started to doze off.

Dreams started to enter his mind again memories from a distant past…

_oFlashbacko_

_As the ranks from opposite sides finally met, they patiently waited for the commands of their generals. Both sides crying out battle cries, boosting their morale at every chance they could. Wraife stood in front of a massive army composed of different races. He had been made the high general of this great army. _

"_Beings from all races, this day would change the course of history. Blood shall shed, lives shall be spent, principles shall be put to test, and faith shall be the weapon. We will all ride together under one banner, setting aside all differences and quarrels. I see in the eyes of these people in front of me the eyes of courageous beings that could bring down these assailants that dare to conquer us. Come! Let us put our names in the book of history and bring claim this day ours!" he called out as he lead the charge of the massive high army of the peoples of earth._

_As soon as their army charged, their assailants started going offensive as well, charging head on to meet their foes. Spells were thrown from sides, arrows, bolts, javelins, bullets and axes were flying in the air. The clashing of metal resonated all over the place as fire started to surround the battlefield. Whether it is on the ground, over high up in the sky, the battle was fiercely being fought. Dragons and wyverns fought a legendary battle up in the skies as they traded vicious attacks. Dragoons and stewards whom had been the riders of these mythical creatures kept casting spells of different kinds at each other. Amongst these dogfights in mid air, two dragons raged hell on each other. A ferocious black dragon with its rider faced and equally ferocious red dragon and its rider._

"_Burn in hell, traitor!" bellowed the red dragon's rider as it's dragon roared fiercely and spoke in the tongue of men. "Never would I have thought of facing a black dragon! None the less, I shall be by your side till the end, red rider!" said the dragon as they pierced the sky in a ferocious charge. The clash of these two dragoons sent shockwaves throughout the battlefield, making all of the participants of this battle stop and witness of this great duel._

_Both the two dragons and their riders fought valiantly; soon the dragoons found their selves dismounted from their dragons as they continued to battle harder than they ever did in their whole life. As their swords met each other, they parried each others' attacks, aware of the skill the both posses, they used their magic as well. Conjuring flaming arrows, thunderbolts, magic missiles, and minute meteors, they still stood strong and continued to fight on._

_oEnd of Flashbacko_

Just as Harry was on his way to the Great Hall, he felt a very familiar feeling tearing him apart once more. The pain in his scar burned fiercely once more, making him kneel down to his knees yelping out in pain. His scar seemed to light up bright as the pain grew stronger and more imposing than he had ever felt. He let out a loud scream that resonated throughout the corridors. Soon enough, he lost all consciousness and dropped flat on the floor.

As Harry started to regain his consciousness, he found himself lying on one of the beds of the Hospital Wing. He felt something very fast encircle his neck and crushed his body hard. As he glanced to see what was going on, Cho apparently lunged towards Harry to give him a bone-crushing hug.

"You gave us all quite a fright!" whimpered Cho as she rested her head on Harry's chest. The look of worry on her face was starting to disappear and Harry felt a bit relieved and happy at the same time to see Cho's face again. He stroked her long black hair gently to calm her down. Just then, Eli and Remus Lupin came in.

"We heard what happened, Harry. This is troublesome, you haven't felt that scar of yours burn that much ever since you became a dragoon," Lupin thought curiously "Just so you know, your parents are on their way here," Lupin added as he took a seat near Ron and Hermione sat.

"I've never felt anything from my scar since I became a dragoon," Harry said thoughtfully.

"You're growing weak, Harry," Eli cut in.

"What?"

"Your mind is too clouded, you're letting your mental defenses down, making it easy for Voldemort to penetrate you mind once more. Dragoons can have a very erratic mental behavior due to the pressure their minds undergo. It seems that when the dragoon blood in you hasn't awakened yet, you were able to endure tremendous amount of stress and depression. Dragoons cannot handle that Harry. The problems that you kept to yourself was too grave enough for any being to bear for that matter. To make things short, you worry too much, Harry Potter." Eli pointed out as the rest became more serious by the moment.

"I see," it was all Harry could manage as he took in all the information Eli gave out.

"We will have to make our training sessions a lot harder then, Harry. This will help you clear you mind," Eli said.

"I will be seeking counsel from Octavius. I shall be back before classes tomorrow, don't worry." He assured as he began to dissipate into sprites once more.

"I so have got to learn how to do that," said Ron who was in utter awe as he stared at the blank space where Eli stood. Everybody else chuckled at Ron's comment whereas Ron gave them all a questioning look.

"What? So, now dreaming has its price?" demanded Ron.

"Nope, not at all" said Harry as he broke into a laughing fit once more.

_oSomewhereo_

As Eli started to take form again, he stood on a pathway towards a pair of very large doors similar to Hogwarts' Great Hall. "It's good to be back home" he sighed with relief as the imperial guards passed trough bowed towards him to show their respects at their high general.

As Eli made his way to the throne room, he visited his own room and changed to his 'normal' clothes. He also wore an elegant silver-diamond thing circlet on top of his head.

As the doors of the throne room opened, trumpets were sounded as he entered. There was a long red carpet that made its way towards the ivory white throne at the far end of the room where an old man, elegantly suited, sat. The old man, who was apparently, the lord in these lands had his royal subjects present as they sat in the chairs all over the room, chatting amongst themselves as Eli walked passed them.

"The young general has come back!" said one of the dragoons as Eli passed them by.


	10. Lost Prophecies, Lost Myths, Lost Belief

**Chapter 10: Lost Prophecies, Lost Myths, Lost Beliefs**

Eli knelt before the high king's throne, waiting for the high king's royal subjects to quiet down. As he patiently waited, commoners started to fill the room. It appears that news here are spread very fast in these lands.

"Welcome back to Esthaar, the Capital of the Draconian territory, the Haven of Wings. What tidings do you bring, Elijah?"

"Lord Gaius Octavius, my sovereign, the boy seems to have a weak mind. It is imperative that we strengthen the boy's mental capabilities as soon as possible. Dark times are drawing near once more," Eli reported.

"Ah, yes of course, Albus has informed me of that. The best way to strengthen the mind is to train it to channel out all its thoughts. I have heard that the boy is not quite the character to master occlumency. Is this true?" Octavius asked.

"Indeed it is. Therefore, I have thought of giving him a more extensive training. I intend to bring with me one of our finest martial artists to train him if you would concur with my decision," Eli said as Octavius rose from his throne. "Very well, then. Send him with you," he replied.

"Thank you my lord, I shall leave now," Eli said as he rose and started to turn, but Octavius stopped him and called him out again. "We will have a meeting at the battle chamber to discuss the further progress on the battle that is raging down there in their lands,"

"Yes, my lord. I shall go there when I am called," he said as he turned around to leave. Once more, the trumpets were sounded, marking his leaving.

_oSomewhere…o_

A lone figure sat in a corner of a very dark chamber. Resting in his shoulder was a blade; a two handed sword that looked extremely… intimidating. In its blade, it bore markings of ancient languages and calligraphies, its hilt had three small jewels and its handle was wrapped with black leather with silver trimming on the sides.

The room barely had light. Soon enough, a door creaked open as a familiar figure with a silver hand came in.

"The Dark Lord has called upon you," said the familiar figure. Just as he said this, the man's figure began to be consumed by blue flames, and then he disappeared in thin air.

"That always creeps me out," muttered the familiar figure as he closed the chamber's door.

Inside the throne room, Voldemort sat in his throne as a death eater reported the outcome of their scouting. Apparently, they too had been spying on their enemies.

"My lord, they have lost a lot during the last encounter, if the only humans were going to participate in their banner, then it'd be a slaughter if we met them in open war!" exclaimed the death eater with a hint of triumph in his joy.

"You are too exuberant, _crucio!_" Voldemort said as the death eater began to wail in pain. Just then, blue flames started to erupt from the ground, and a figure of a man with a very intimidating sword came in to focus.

"Very well, you have come as ordered, freebooter," Voldemort started as he began to rise from his throne, the death eaters who have noticed this began to kneel down.

"This is Blake, he is a Baalspawn,"

(A/N: Baalspawns are offsprings of the one of the human's pagan gods; Baal, the lord of murder. Before he passed away from his mortal figure, he planted his seeds all over the lands, where each seed bore his likeness and all his abilities. If these seeds came into full potential, they would supposedly be the most powerful beings on earth… supposedly.)

_oBack At Hogwartso_

As soon as Harry checked out of the Hospital Wing, Harry, Cho, Ron and Hermione went to the Great Hall. All of them, even Cho, dined in the Gryffindor table. Harry was still unable to escape from the overwhelming force of the Harry Potter Fan Club. Ron and the others could only laugh.

"Voldemort is up to something… He seems very happy." Harry said out of nowhere as he took a piece of chicken and placed it to his plate. Ron and the others had stopped from eating and gaped at Harry.

"What do you meant he's very happy?" Ron asked with a very nervous tone. The last time Harry had said something like that, they ended up visiting his father in St. Mugo's. "I don't know yet, by he's up to something for sure," By this moment, Ron had lost all appetite to eat, which made Harry's right eye brow lift.

Just then, Draco had entered the hall with Rhea. Since Malfoy was somewhat off-limits to the Slytherin table, the couple went straight to the Gryffindor table, causing both the Slytherin and Gryffindor table to engage in whisperings.

"Hello there" Draco greeted as Rhea smiled at them. Harry gestured them to take a seat beside Cho which they did so. As soon as Rhea and Draco sat, Cho and Rhea engaged in a merciless talk. _'Girls…'_ Harry thought lamely as he let out a little giggle. Ron still threw a little fit as Draco sat down, but Hermione threw him a very cold glare and Ron stop at once as he shrugged.

"Voldemort is up to something," Harry told Draco, who gaped at him in disbelief.

"How do you know?"

"My scar hurt again. It hurts whenever Voldemort is every happy."

"But, how can that be? He just lost to us from the last battle?"

"We may have won the battle here at Hogwarts, but we haven't won a single battle outside Hogwarts," Harry said darkly as an owl dove to the Gryffindor table and dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet into Harry's lap.

**Auror Dispatch In Munich, Missing In Action**

_Just a month ago, an auror dispatch was sent to Munich to investigate the current situation. Apparently, Munich is already under the Dark Lord's control. The auror dispatch which consists of 8 aurors were never seen ever since. Their names had been prohibited to be to given due to confidentiality. Only their families and loved ones are allowed to know of their current situation. Minister Fudge has ordered a 10:00pm curfew to all the citizens of England to avoid further loss. _

_Rita Skeeter_

_The Daily Prophet_

"This is bad," Harry said as he gave the newspaper to Draco whose eyes widened in disbelief. "This is father's doing. Him, Nott, Avery, Crabbe and Goyle were sent to Munich by Voldemort under special orders," Draco said instantly as Ron and Hermione's eyes darted towards him.

Harry stood up to leave the table. Apparently there was something disturbing going through his mind again. His parents were aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix. "I have to write my parents. I'll see you guys later." He got up as he placed a hand on Cho's shoulders who looked at him with concern in her eyes.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No. It's alright. I'll tell you everything later" Harry left the Great Hall and dashed as fast as he could to the Owlery. He took out a piece of paper and scribbled a note.

_Mum and Dad,_

_There was an attack in Munich, 8 aurors are missing in action. I'm beginning to worry. Please send your reply as soon as possible. I need to know that you didn't go._

_Harry_

As soon as he finished writing the letter, he rolled it and tied it into Hedwig's leg who hooted at him excitedly. "Hello Hedwig, I need you to bring this to mum and dad. Please be safe. Don't leave without their reply." Hedwig flew away as soon as Harry was done. All Harry could do now was hope that things were still okay.

_oBack At Esthaaro_

Eli along with Octavius and the other generals stood around a round table with a map on top. They had been talking about war strategies and other things concerning the upcoming war for hours.

"We expect the enemy be around 200,000 strong by that time. Their current number is 150,000. We now only have 80, 000 men in our ranks. 20 000 dragoons, 30 000 men, 20 000 high elves, 10 000 dwarves. We don't have much time to gather such force as massive as theirs!" said a general.

"We don't need a force as large as theirs. All we need is a good battle strategist," said Octavius. "But how could we do so? The last time we fought, the odds were 2 to 1! Now the odds are almost similar to 1 to 15!" complained another general.

"Have you forgotten of a conqueror from men? His army of 70 000 had defeated an army of 200 000. Their odds during that time were much more difficult. But because of their general's mythical strategies, they managed to hold on and pulverize the enemy.

"Ah, Alexander, the Macedonian conqueror," Elijah commented. "He pretended to out-flank the enemy's right flank. Just when the enemy took his bait, he gathered his army's central force and attacked the center of the enemy's army. By the time they did so, the heart of the enemy's army had been weakened since they had been busy fending off Alexander's trap. With Alexander's centurions, they broke through the enemy's ranks. Seeing that all hope was lost, the enemy's leader forsook his army and felt. Alexander and his army won," Elijah recounted.

"Brilliant," commented one of the generals. As they all gasped in awe of Elijah's tale. "You intend on using the same strategy?" a general who looked like an Asian commented. "Not exactly the same, Julio but something similar to it. We will set up a decoy for the enemy. But we would have something in similar to Alexander's centurion as a ramming force to break Voldemort's ranks…" Octavius said as all the generals began to comment.

"Why not use our dragons, then?" the same general asked.

"Our dragons would be up in the air by then. I'm sure the enemy's stewards will be able to anticipate our dragons if so happen," Eli added. "We need to create a special weapon. A weapon that men will carry since they are the ones to lead the charge. They depend on their wands alone. That would be difficult," Octavius said.

"Then it is settled. I am going to tell our blacksmiths to meet up with the elven and dwarven smiths too to forge weapons for their use," Eli told them.

"Our meeting is adjourned for now. We shall reassemble once more when urgent news is at hand," Octavius declared as the generals began to bow and take their leave.

"Julio! I need a word with you" Elijah said as he caught up with the Asian looking dragoon general. "What is it that you want, high general?" Julio asked with all the respect in his tone.

"I need your expertise in martial arts to teach a special student,"

"Are you referring to the half-blood that you had been guiding?"

"Indeed. His name is Harry Potter. He is still getting used to his new found gifts. I need your help in teaching him. Teach him the arts that you know."

"Very well, then. I shall accompany you on your way back," Julio said.

"Very well, then. We leave at sunrise. By the way, we shall fly." Elijah said with a smirk as Julio returned his smirk.

As Elijah began to disappear from Julio's sight, Julio drew out his sword. His sword was very different from all the others. It was bent all over the places. It was a kriss. A native Filipino sword.

"Finally, I shall pass on my wisdom to a worthy learner," he said with delight in his voice.

_oBack At Hogwartso_

Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, enjoying the night by the fireplace. Hermione was busy reviewing her Potions homework for errors. Ron was playing wizard's chess with Seamus and Harry was writing his Charms essay.

"Have you seen Eli yet? Dayna was asking for him just earlier." Ginny said as she entered the common room. "He's still back in his home, meeting up with the council." Harry said while continuing to write his Charms essay.

"Well, he should've told Dayna he'd be gone for the day. He got her worried sick!" Ginny continued as she sat on of the couches in the Gryffindor common room. "I'm sure Eli didn't mean that. He'll never do that to Dayna, that I could tell you," Harry said as he paused on writing his essay to take a look on Ginny.

"How can you be so sure?" Ginny asked.

"Well, Eli likes her. A lot." Harry added as he smirked at the thought of Eli goofing off in front of Dayna.

"Oh I do hope so…" Ginny said as he let out a sigh.

"Come on you guys! Don't think too much about that love thing! Seamus and I here are trying to play wizard's chess for Merlin's sake!" Ron protested.

"Ronald Weasley! What an insensitive wart you are!" Ginny said as she stood up to stomped her way to the girl's dormitory.

"Now you've done it," Harry said as he shrugged and continued on writing his homework.

"Apologize to her!" Hermione spat as she turned to give Ron a cold glare.

"Alright! Alright! I will I get your point!!!" he said as he threw his hands in the air in a sign of defeat. "What a prat" Hermione muttered in a frustrated tone as she continued her essay.

After a few hours of non-stop studying led by Hermione, Harry dragged his sleepy body towards the boys' dormitory. Every inch of his body's yearning for a very comfortable sleep.

Morning was coming after all…

_oBack At Esthaaro_

Elijah and Julio prepared themselves as they said their farewells. As soon as they were ready, they walked to the edge of the dragoon city. From the top, it seemed like a cliff way in the clouds as all its surroundings are wrapped with clouds. Then, Elijah and Julio dove down in their dragoon form. As they gained their balance, they looked back the place they left. It was like a large piece of land floating in mid-air. Surely it was a haven of wings.

"I shall make arrangements with Dumbledore to assign you a position in Hogwarts," Elijah told him as they flew away from Esthaar.

"Why not make me a teacher for self-defense? Surely all of the students need to protect themselves when the time comes. I could teach them all of them my arts," he added.

"Alright then. For now, let's make our way to Hogwarts," With that, they accelerated leaving split streams of red and green.

_oBack At Hogwartso_

As Harry and the others made their way to the Great Hall, they ran into a very magnificent looking figure. The figure wore a cloak making it difficult to look into the face of the figure. Light seemed to envelope its figure, and its presence made everyone near the cloaked figure feel calm. The figure stopped as Harry went side by side with it. As he faced the cloaked figure, the figure turned towards him and took its cloak off, revealing a very beautiful face. Harry presumed that the woman standing in front of him was a high elf, as her ears were pointed in an elegant fashion and her eyes sparkled like the shiniest jewel that ever graced the earth.

"Harry Potter, we meet at last." The elvish woman greeted. "I am Eärwen. And I have come here to aid you. Yet I also bring you news of the forgotten. News of the things that will come to pass, if fate should allow," she said.

"I-I don't quite get you…" Harry stumbled for words as he gazed upon Eärwen's green elf eyes.

"When the dark lord's equal vanquishes the dark lord, all the evil he has beset shall be undone. This is the gift of Gea the creator of Gaia, our world,"

"I still… This is all too weird for me…"

"There is still time, you will be able to absorb the meaning of our talk. Until then," she said as she smiling brightly at Harry, Ron and Hermione and took off towards the Great Hall.

As they got to the Great Hall, they saw Eärwen in the teacher's dining table sitting in the place where Professor Trelawney used to sit.

"Could it be?" Ron asked instantly with a hint of joy and excitement in his voice as they took their normal seats.

"Oh I hope so. Trelawney's starting to hit a nerve," Harry said as Parvati and Lavander gave him cold glares. Just then Professor Dumbledore stood up and all noise ceased.

"I am very sorry to say that our dear Professor Trelawney will not be with us for a long time for she is under a special errand by the Ministry. Therefore it is with great privilege I introduce you're new Divinations teacher Professor Eärwen Evergreen. She is a high elf; one of the most beautiful races that has ever walked our world," Dumbledore said as Eärwen stood up to smile and take a bow and sat down again.

"Also, all of us know the events that are taking place outside Hogwarts right this moment. It is imperative that all of you to learn how to defend yourselves with the absence of your wands. Therefore I introduce to you a new class. It is called the Martial Defense Class, and your teacher will be Professor Julio Bloodstone," Professor Dumbledore announced as an Asian looking man appeared from behind the teacher's dining table. He had brown eyes, and his hair was jet black like Harry's and Eli's, only his was way shorter than Eli's and way neater than Harry's. He too proved to be an irresistible sight for the girls. "Like Harry Potter and Elijah Austin, he is also a dragoon. He is one of the finest warriors of their races and will be a great teacher for the job," Professor Dumbledore added as Julio bowed and took a seat near Hagrid who greeted him merrily. Julio returned his greeting with a warm smile.

At the same time, Eli came over to the Gryffindor table with a very relieved looking Dayna.

"There you are!" Harry said as he stood up to go approach Eli and Dayna,"

"Harry, I have arranged Julio to come here to aid you mainly. Be prepared he will be teaching you harder stuff than I had been teaching you,"

"That's great then!"

"You seem a bit worried, what's bothering you, Harry?" Dayna cut in.

"Well, this new teacher, Eärwen, she told me something,"  
Before Harry could go further Eli cut him off.

"What she told you, is for you alone. She holds all the secrets of this world. She is the keeper of lost prophecies, lost myths, and lost beliefs. She is the legendary seer of the elven race. She has far more extensive knowledge than Trelawney. Her wisdom would be of great help to you, and all of us, Harry. She might hold the key into unlocking the secret of defeating Voldemort for good,"

"But she told me what will happen if were to defeat Voldemort,"

"Have faith in her words, Harry. She will guide you to the right path. She is the princess of the High Lord of the Elves, the ultimate seeker, Olwë."


	11. The Elven Seer, the Baalspawn, and the M

**Chapter 11: The Elven Seer, the Bhaalspawn, and the Mortal Blade **

Harry still felt queasy about that certain piece of information Eli had just told him. Harry and Eli continued to discuss some more about this matter along with Dayna until Harry had decided to retreat to the comfort of the Gryffindor Common Room.

Harry woke up on the Monday morning with great anticipation. He wanted to know to things in general: Is Evergreen worse than Trelawney? And Is Julio any better? But, aside from all these, he was feeling uneasy about something. He's still trying to decipher this feeling that's been bugging him. He immediately changed his clothes and went down to the Great Hall to join his friends.

As he got to the Great Hall, he found Malfoy and Rhea waiting for him in front of the entrance.

"Mind if we join you lot?" Rhea asked as Harry approached them.

"Quite alright with me, but what about your friends? You sure don't want them to get worried about you falling apart, right?"

"Oh, they understand! After all, we've spent our entire time here practically with each other!" she said with a laugh. As the three of them joined the rest of the Gryffindors, Cho approached Harry with a silly questioning look on her face.

"Starting your day without me, huh?" she asked inquisitively while her arms were folded in front of her chest. "Sorry, mother!" Harry mocked as he held up his hands in sign of defeat. Cho could only laugh at him until Harry had ushered her to a seat next to him.

"How's detention been, Fred? George?" Eli randomly asked while still trying to eat a loaf of bread. "Bearable. McGonagall's been holding out on us. I don't know why though," Fred replied thoughtfully, though it appeared like their being in detention was a big mockery for them. "Yeah, maybe McGonagall's starting to buy our pranks too!" George added as most of the one's who heard him gave out hearty laughs.

As they finished their breakfast, they've decided to part their ways and walk to their classes. As they made their way to the exit, they heard groans and sighs of disappointment from the students who had just left. It appeared that there had been a new post on the bulletin board.

_To all students,_

_We are very sorry to inform you that the upcoming Christmas Ball that was originally scheduled on the 18th of December will be moved to the 24th of December. You shall be able to return to your own homes on the 26th of December. Once more, we are very sorry for the inconvenience._

_Professor Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress_

With this, most of the male students let out a sigh of relief. The apparent urge for them to find a date had been saved once more. They will have to live another day without having to ask girls to the Ball.

"Looks like you're saved again, Seamus!" Eli said out loud while slapping Seamus' back hard. "OUCH! That actually hurt, you know!" Hermione only shrugged and said something frustrated and continued to walk on "men…" Harry heard Hermione mutter as they walked on.

Their first subject for the day would be Martial Defense. Harry felt excited about this subject since he felt something very extra-ordinary with Julio. As they entered the classroom assigned for this class, they looked in awe of what they saw. The Marital Defense classroom looked like a martial arts dojo as Harry recalled when Dudley used to watch movies that contained hand-to-hand combat. The room had wooden flooring and at the back portion of the room was rubber tiled. It had armor and weapon stands that had rubber and foam padded armors, helmets, and groin guards. There were also wooden sticks, bokkens, and padded sticks on the racks. And on each side of the room was a row of striking dummies. As the students eventually settled in the room, Julio came inside the room. He was an Asian looking man with sleek black hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin. He was quite tall and muscular, not to mention that he looked very handsome, making most of the girls in the room swoon over him; Parvati and Lavander in particular.

"Welcome to your first ever Martial Defense Class. In this class, you will learn how to defend yourselves in the absence of your wands. You will lean muggle martial arts such as taekwondo, jitkundo, jujitsu, kung-fu, karate-do, sabate, capoera, and the like. Also, you will learn how to wield a blade; I shall teach you blade-wielding martial arts like kendo and arnis. But before we do anything else, I must warn you. This class is no walk around the park. This will definitely be the hardest class you all will be in. You will sweat like you've never had, bones will break, muscles will be sore. Anyone who can't take that can leave right now," with this, a lot of the students gulped and shivered a bit as they gave thought on what Julio had just said. Nobody walked out though, much to Julio's delight and surprise.

"Alright then, the first thing you'll have to learn is proper stance and footing. In a fight, a fighter must have the right footing to execute the proper strikes. If not, he will only lose. Your stance shouldn't be too loose, or too stiff. As a famous boxer said before, you must fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee," Julio explained as he walked around the classroom, taking a good look on each of his students. "If you have achieved the proper stance, you will be able to do swift attacks with ease and with no mistakes such as this-"Julio suddenly got down on his fighting stance and made a swift roundhouse kick towards Dean who shrieked in panic, but as Julio's foot was only millimeters away, he stopped and put his foot down. "Of course, proper control is required," he said with a smirk as he patted Dean on his head and walked away.

"He's a nutter…" Seamus said wide-eyed as he looked from Dean to Julio.

"Of course you won't be practicing with those robes on, say "guardarropa" as he did this, his clothes changed into a normal fit white shirt and a semi-loose black linen pants."

As soon as Julio had finished introducing them to Martial Arts, he told them to use the rest of the time to practice their stance, and switch-footing. Eli in particular took this seriously as he practiced rigorously. Julio on the other hand was performing a katta or an exercise. As he continued to perform this, a lot of the students paused as they gaped in awe at Julio's fluid moves. His punches, chops and kicks were very graceful even for the eyes of an amateur.

As they finished the class, Harry and the rest of the group headed towards the dungeons for their Potions class. "Come to think of it, Snape hasn't been that much of a greasy git, eh?" Ron said with a thoughtful face. "Don't say that! You'll brake whatever jinx there is to why he's been acting off from his greasy-git-mode," Dean argued with them as they entered the Potions dungeon. Potions really wasn't as bad as it was before. Malfoy had already joined their side so there isn't much action going on before the class. Harry found him isolated from all the Slytherins when they entered. Harry and the rest immediately joined him and took seats.

"Well, well, well, it's a record to find you on time, Potter," said Professor Snape as he entered the room. _'Whatever you do, don't say anything. You'll waste our house points!'_ Eli reminded him in his mind. As he remained silent, Professor Snape raised an eye brow and continued to mock him. "Lost you tongue, Potter? Perhaps you need a potion to speak." Harry remained silent and tried to keep his smirk. _'Snape's a very sad person. He's desperately trying to piss me off. He looks like a fool like now!'_ he thought to himself as Professor Snape turned his back on him and returned with the lesson.

As usual, Professor Snape gave them a 4-foot long essay about the Truth Potion that was to be submitted the next day. As they made their way to the Great Hall for lunch, Harry and the others couldn't help but laugh.

"Seriously Harry, he looked like a loon!!! He even made a face when he couldn't piss you off!" Ron commented with an overjoyed tone in his voice.

As they made their way to the Gryffindor table, an owl dropped a letter to Harry's part of the table.

_Harry,_

_We're fine. You're mum and I had been concentrating on the Order so we didn't have time to report to the Ministry for Auror Duties. Dumbledore was kind enough to set us on leave so we could focus in helping the Order. It's very dangerous out here. We'll see if we can get you and Cho by the start of the break. If worse comes to worst, you'll have to stay there for the rest of the break. Don't worry; we wouldn't pass the opportunity to spend the first Holiday with you._

_Take good care and remember to piss Snivelous off in my behalf._

_Dad_

_P.S  
Say hi to everyone for us._

Harry felt a wave of relief and even a bit of a laughing fit when he read a letter._ 'Dad sure hasn't changed at all,'_ he thought merrily to himself.

"Say Ron, are you going to stay during the break?" Harry asked.

"Nah, I don't think so, Mum wants all of us to come back at the Burrow. I think there'll be a reunion or something,"

"Oh, dad said I might have to stay here. I'll be training the whole break then,"

As they finished their lunch, they went to their Divinations class. Harry felt weird, he never liked being in Divinations Class. But somehow, he feels very expectant about the class' outcome today. As they came in, the same aura of calmness embraced them as Professor Evergreen welcomed them.

"Good day. Today's class will be a bit different than before. Much for some person's delight, I will not be predicting someone's death. Moreover, I will be predicting the outcome of someone's death. The eye of Gea does not tell anyone when some things happen, rather it tells what will happen when that happen," as she continued to discuss this, her eyes focused on Harry who seemed to be listening very carefully. Hermione threw a hand up in the air making their eye contact to break. "Yes, Ms. Granger?"

"Who is Gea?"

"Gea is the creator of all things, in your race, he is called Yahweh, in mine, he was once called Iluvatar from the tongue of the Quendi, the ancestors of the elves today. He was also called Eru in the tongue of the Valars or the demi-gods,"

Many gasped in awe of what Professor Evergreen had just said. _'Eli was right,'_ Harry thought, she knew a lot about our world and she may hold technically all the answers to his questions. Somehow, her words yesterday began to dawn on him.

As Divination passed by quite eventful, so did Transfiguration as things started to be harder for them since they had started focusing on being an animagus. Harry and Eli however used this session to try and invoke their dragons. Since they can't be an animagus, they'd have to try and invoke their dragons as best as they can.

"Harry, I must inform you, invoking dragons isn't easy. It involves great concentration and devotion," Eli warned in one of their brakes. Provoking did prove to be a very grueling task; they had to channel all their thoughts into praying in their minds. They had to make mental contact with the dragon that's been guarding them since childhood. In order to do so, they had to do numerous prayers the rest of the period. By the end of the period, they called in to a halt as well.

"Come on, Harry. Don't expect to get it on your first try, not even Octavius got it on his first try," said a very mentally spent Eli as they joined their friends towards the Great Hall for dinner.

"So, how was the invoking?" Hermione asked as they met along the corridors. "Not very productive. The dragons don't seem to take a hint!" said a very frustrated Harry. "Nobody gets it on the first try," repeated an equally frustrated Eli.

"Man, you guys DO look spent," commented Ron as he got an elbow to the ribs and a hard smack on the head. "Hey! That hurts!" he complained as he faked a sob. "Don't say the obvious next time!"

As they headed to the Gryffindor table, Harry got pulled away by Cho who dragged him towards the Ravenclaw table. "Don't worry, we don't eat humans… or dragoons in your case," mocked Cho as she ushered him to a seat next to her.

"So, Harry. 'Fancy seeing you sit in the Ravenclaw table," commented Jane as she returned to chatting excitedly with Zoë. Rhea, however, was nowhere to be seen. "I take it that your best friend's off with the great Draco Malfoy?" Harry asked as Cho got some food on her plate. "Yep, they've been quite inseparable these days," she replied as she stopped spooning her food. "Hey! Get some food will you!" she said as he nudged Harry a bit. "You're scaring the poor kid, Cho," teased Roger who was a few seats away from them as he paused from talking to another Ravenclaw girl when he commented this. "Fine! If you won't get food from your own plate, then I'll get it for you!"

After several tries, Cho managed to make Harry eat. Then, Eli made his way towards Harry. "Harry, can we talk in private?" Cho gave him a questioning look as Eli returned him with a pleading look. "I'll see you later," Harry whispered to Cho as he got up, held one of Cho's shoulders and squeezed it gently. Him and Eli left afterwards.

As the both of them strolled, they eventually stopped just near the lake and outside Hogwarts grounds. "What is it you want to talk about that's very important?"

"We are very outnumbered,"

"What?"

"The odds are 10 to 1. Voldemort's massing an army 200 000 strong. We can muster only round about 80 000 when the time he decides to attack. Our tactics must be very precise by that time. Everyone back in Esthaar had been brainstorming since the information had been revealed. Harry, we need as many dragons as we can. And with our dragons' help, we could weaken the enemy's ranks hopefully," Eli explained just as they heard movements from the bushes. Acting on instinct, Harry and Eli quickly changed into dragoon battle suits and drew out their swords; battle-ready.

Soon enough, a figure appeared from the bushes. He had a very strange armor; on his left shoulder were five long iron pins that stand 2 feet long and are bound together on their tips. He wore a full gothic plate mail and a black cape. His gauntlets had gems on every knuckle and his boots were of mythril. To top all of those, he carried a very intimidating two handed sword that he carried with his right arm and rested on his right shoulder, even if the sword was sheathed, it still looked very menacing.

"Heh, I've always thought you dragoons were loons. No matter, this will prove to be interesting, Nassil!" he called out as another figure emerged from the darkness. This figure looked more slender than the first one, for some reason, his features were somewhat similar to Professor Evergreen's. The figure who appeared to be a male had very dark skin and pointed ears, like the other figure, he was fully armored and had enchanted items with him. To top all that, he had a tower shield and a rapier on each hand.

"Drow," Eli muttered disdainfully as he glared at the second figure.

"That's right, dragoon. I am a drow, the king of drows to be exact. I believe we've met before, in the battlefield if my memory serves me right," the figure joked.

"No matter, that proved to be a long time ago, I am Nassil,"

Eli seemed to take his presence as a joke since he laughed when Nassil introduced himself "I've never forgotten you, you made Brax turn,"

"Very well then, Harry, go get Nassil, I'll take on this other one," Harry nodded as he dashed away and clashed with Nassil. Eli and the other figure with the two-handed sword still stood there staring at each other.

"What might your name be?"

"Blake, and I'm a Bhaalspawn," as he said this, he dashed with lightning speed and drew his sword to attack Eli. Eli was caught a bit unprepared Blake had already launched his first strike that was an overhead strike. Eli blocked it with his sword and dashed off again from Blake's sight. Whenever their swords met, their metal would clang very loud and the wind would blow hard.

Harry's sword handling skills seemed to have improved since he was able to prevent Nassil from inflicting damages from him and at the same time counter-attack with his own strike. Just as Eli and Blake, their swords made a loud noise when they met and the wind blew violently. The moved with great speed as they hit and dashed away and hit again.

"This will have to do for now" Blake said as a black hole materialized from his side. Slowly, a sword appeared from the hole. Eli looked pretty appalled when he saw the sword taking full shape. As the sword finally got its full form, Blake immediately got it and dashed towards Eli with all his might, Eli however did not have any chance to react with his move. With one swift action, he unsheathed the sword and stabbed it on Eli's ribs. As Eli fell to the ground, the battle going on between Harry and Nassil stopped too. "That's a _mortal blade_, dragoon. I bid you good luck in finding the cure for that," Blake said as the blade of the sword he used to stab Eli turned into ashes and got swept away by the wind. "We shall meet again in the battlefield," Nassil said as both of them disappeared from thin air.

"MADAM POMFREY! I NEED HELP!" Harry shouted as he rammed the door of the Hospital Wing open with a very weak looking Eli in his arms.

"Oh dear, what happened?" she asked as she helped Harry put Eli on a bed.  
"He got stabbed by a mortal blade-"before Harry could continue, Madam Pomfrey let out a gasp and went out of the ward. As she got back, she was being followed closely by Professor Evergreen. Professor Evergreen said an unknown incantation that took Eli's armor off. As she ripped off that top part of Eli's robes, she placed a hand on Eli's wound. As her hand touched Eli's wound, Eli bolted upright with his eyes peeled open. "He's having seizures. We have to be quick. Hold him back," she said as Harry and Madam Pomfrey took each of Eli's arms and put him back to bed. Professor Evergreen put her hand again on Eli's wound and began to chant a very long spell.

As she finished chanting, Eli stopped moving uncontrollably and she collapsed on a nearby chair, panting very hard. "He'll… be… fine…"she told Harry in between breaths. Just then, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall came in with Julio following closely.

"Is it true, Eärwen? A mortal blade?" Professor Dumbledore asked, looking quite worried.

"I'm afraid so. I never thought those creatures still walked the earth after the war,"

"What is a mortal blade?" Harry asked. Professor McGonagall was about to order him to go to his dorm but Professor Dumbledore stopped her.

"A mortal blade is a very dangerous blade carried by wraiths and Bhaalspawns. Its blade is forged out of wyvern poison, and countless dark magic. When the blade has served its purpose, it turns into ashes,"

"Bhaalspawns?"

"Sons and daughters of Bhaal, the Lord of Murder. Baal was a local deity of pagans. When he was in a mortal's body, he planted seeds before his death, seeds that would eventually be his sons and daughters, who will continue his work when he's gone, wreck havoc all over," Professor Dumbledore explained.

Harry was shocked with all the sudden events as he remained beside Eli's bed. Julio went beside him and let out a loud sigh.

"Looks like our personal lessons will have to wait," he muttered as he continued to look at Eli's unconscious body.


	12. The Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter 12: The Calm Before the Storm**

By Tuesday morning, Eli had checked out of the Hospital Wing, still he was under special medications from the orders of Professor Evergreen. Eli was still weak due to the poison's effects. But, his condition failed to dampen his spirits as he continued to go on with his witty demeanor. Surely, Harry, and the others were happy to see this.

"Hey Harry, already bought presents?" Ron asked as he was busy chewing his food. "Ronald Weasley, that is so grotesque!" Ginny said as she turned her head to look away. Fred and George found this quite hilarious as they burst out in laughter. Ron gave them a questioning look, shrugged, and returned to eating. Ron's question rang a bell on Harry's ear. He smiled and returned to eating. _'All in place,'_ he thought to himself.

Charms and Herbology proved to be a walk around the park as they were only required to master a few spells and a few names of herbs for their assignment. Neville was rather saddened by this. He always wanted to do hands on in Herbology. In care before magical creatures, Hagrid once more brought a very interesting animal.

"Terday, class, I will be entreducin' a very charmin' feller," he said as he stepped aside to let the students get a better view of the new animal Hagrid brought. It was a very huge griffin. By the looks of it, a man could obviously ride it. Most of the students were in awe of how elegant the big bird looked. It was a bit golden furred as its beak was very much of a hawk's. "Handsome ain't he? Tha's a gryffon. It's a huge version of a griffin. Durin' the old teyms, wizards used them as war companions. They rode them in air for a better advantage agains' enemies,"

Ron was very fascinated towards the bird. He listened very well to all that Hagrid said. Gryffons are very hard to tame. They choose their own masters and they only serve one master. This gryffon is still a wild one. Hagrid even had a hard time bringing the animal there for class as some cuts and bruises were seen on both his arms.

Just as the class ended, Ron acted very strange. Out of the blue, he started to part from Harry and the others who were about to go to the Great Hall "I'm going to the library for some research," he said as he walked away.

"What's up with him?" Hermione wondered while raising an eye brow. Harry on the other hand was still preoccupied with the recent battle he took part in. A lot of strange things are about to happen. He could ensure that.

Days seemed to pass very quickly as their Christmas Ball drew near. Students were on frenzy about the upcoming event that would take place in a day's time. Harry on the other hand, had everything in control as he decided to play wizard's chess with Ron who was very frustrated since Hermione turned down his offer to play with him to write another letter to Victor Krum.

"Hermione won't play with me, it's because she's not done writing that stupid novel-length letter to Vicky," he sulked over and over again as Harry tried very hard to keep his sniggers. "All she do these days when she has free time is to write and write to Krum! Seriously, Harry, they should get married!" Ron added with the obviously flustered look on his face. "Checkmate, Harry. Seriously, you're very hopeless in chess!" Ron boasted as he rose from his seat and marched towards the portrait hole. "I'm going to the library for some research. I'll see you later, mate" he said as he disappeared. _'There's something going on with him,'_ Harry thought as he went back to the common room for some sleep.

Classes were out as early as Wednesday, which made it easier for students to prepare for the upcoming event. Dresses and robes were being mailed to students on breakfast and everyone was hyped up for the night's ball.

Harry hasn't seen Cho for the past few days. She was dead busy with all the NEWTS craze going and she had been spending lots and lots of hours in the library, studying rigorously. Harry decided to give her a visit as he saw her sitting alone in with a table full of books. She looked very stressed and tired as her hair was brought up in a bun by a pencil and some of her hair still dangled in front of her face. She looked very absorbed with what she's reading and very unmindful of her surroundings. Harry decided to give her a bit of a surprise as he moved behind her and suddenly grabbed her shoulders. Cho let out a little shriek and bolted up with a very furious expression on her face as she saw Harry with a very goofy grin.

"Potter! Can't you see I'm studying!" seeing that Harry didn't even budge after apologizing, she shrugged, offered him a seat and went back to reading again. "Seriously, Cho, you're eyes must be tired. Why don't you call it a day for studying and just continue maybe, when the break starts?" Cho decided to put the book back to the table and stared blankly at Harry. "What do you propose to do then?" she asked with a smile. "I know of a place very peaceful where you can relax a bit and not get disturbed by anyone else," he said with a sly grin on his face.

As Harry and Cho got to where Harry had pointed out, Cho was still a bit stiff since she wasn't familiar with the territory, although she felt calm as the wind seemed colder here with all the snow falling. Her cheeks got a bit red due to the coldness of the surroundings. Harry smiled offered hear a big warm blanket to put around her as he stared at her. Nobody could disturb them alright; they were on the roof of the Gryffindor tower!

"Seriously, Harry isn't this a bit dangerous?" she asked looking worried.

"Do you trust me?" he asked. Cho could only nod as Harry smiled. He let her scoot over as she rested her head on his chest. Things were too perfect to be true.

Soon it was time to prepare for the upcoming festivities; Harry and Cho came back to the castle and said their goodbyes. Harry found his way to the Gryffindor common room and stumbled upon what seemed to be a war room of sorts. Girls were on frenzy up and down the common room trying to fix their selves perfectly. As soon as Harry made it to his dorm, he found the same scene downstairs as Dean, Seamus, Neville, and Ron kept on walking in and out of the bathroom; trying to fix themselves.

Ron kept fidgeting in the new robe that Fred and George; his new robe was silver and went down to his heels. He kept racing in and out of the bathroom as he tried to arrange his hair as perfectly as possible. _'The robe looks nice, my shoes are alright, but my bloody hair won't fall into place! I'm beginning to get a feeling that my hair will be like Harry's!'_ he complained mentally as he saw Harry step inside the room still wearing school robes.

"Harry! There you are! Where the bloody hell have you been?"

"Been walking around with Cho,"

Harry easily got himself prepared as he took a shower and dressed in his robes that he bought during their trip to Diagon Alley; it was a forest green robe. Harry gave up whatever effort to fix his unruly hair as he thought that it was impossible to undo the stubbornness of his hair. He grinned inwardly as the thought of Cho's gift came to his mind. 'This will be interesting'

_oA few minutes after, in the common roomo_

Ron and the rest of his dorm mates waited in the common room for their dates to come. Eli left early to fetch Dayna in the Hufflepuff tower while Harry had to excuse himself since he had to fetch Cho in the Ravenclaw tower. Ron felt that something was up when he saw a mischievous grin on Harry's face._ 'I bet Cho wouldn't like that much when she sees him'_ he thought as he let out a snicker. Just then, his jaw dropped as he saw Hermione come who was wearing navy blue gown that had no strap on the shoulders. She also had her hair straightened out by the usual potion she used last time around. Her features did improve since the last time around when Victor Krum took him to the Yule Ball.

"Keep your jaw up, dear brother," Ginny snorted as she followed Hermione closely with a cheeky grin on her face. _'Wow' _that was all Ron could think.

Ginny wore a pearly white spaghetti strap gown that went down to her heels. She wore white sandals too to match her gown. Her hair was tied up in a bun as she wore a pearl bracelet that Hermione had lent her. _'Dean's face is priceless!'_ she thought coyly as she approached Dean who was in utter awe of what had just beheld his sight. She took Dean's waiting arm and gently dragged him towards the portrait hole.

_o0o_

Harry nervously waited outside the Ravenclaw tower as many of the Ravenclaw students and their dates passed by Harry giving him smiles and giggles. He even me some of the Harry Potter Fan Club members who swooned at the sight of him. Just as he returned his gaze upon the entrance of the Ravenclaw tower. The sight before his eyes cleansed any sort of sore eyes he had. Cho was simply stunning; dressed in a red Chinese evening gown with her hair tied up a in a bun, held up by two wooden sticks.

"Do keep your jaws from dropping please," Cho playfully reminded Harry as he extended a hand for her to reach. "Sorry to disappoint you, but, I can't even use words to describe how you look!" he commented as Cho blushed intensely. The other Ravenclaw females that heard his comment looked at Cho with great envy. Oh how they wish they had a "boyfriend" like Harry Potter.

"Oh, before we go, here," Harry handed Cho a small, square box. As she opened it, Cho let out a small gasp. The box contained silver chained necklace that had a little ruby pendant. "My dad gave that to my mum when they went out during their seventh year," he told her as her shock seemed to have intensified. "I- I don't know what to say," she confessed, though she knew better than to refuse gift. She's been raced to think that rejecting gracious gifts are very rude.

"Your smile would be enough," he casually assured as he guided her towards the path taking them to the Great Hall.

As they made their way to the Great Hall, the met all four of the house ghosts who seemed to be in high spirits as well. Surprisingly though, Peeves was nowhere in sight, much to Filch's delight.

"The Bloody Baron must've done something," Cho mused as she and Harry continued to walk past their fellow students who exchanged warm smiles with them. Harry and Cho found Eli who was wearing his royal blue robes that perfectly matched his eyes with Dayna, who was wearing a pastel yellow gown. The pair looked very stunning together. Just beside them was Draco and Rhea; as Harry had predicted, Draco wore silver robes as Rhea wore a backless black gown.

As the entrance to the Great Hall opened, the couples and stags came in. The setting of the Great Hall was changed in a manner similar to what they had done during the Yule ball. Rumors also had it that the Weird Sisters are yet to make an appearance in this said evening. As the couples and everyone else had settled down, Professor Dumbledore started to say his opening remarks.

"Welcome to our Christmas Ball, as we have done 2 years ago in the Yule Ball, you are allowed in the dance floor only with a partner. Students are allowed to wander around the school till 2 am given the fact that you'd have to leave. Students from other houses can invite other friends from different houses for the sake of inter-house relations as well. Now, I hope you enjoy this evening as much as we will," with his last words, the hall erupted into loud cheers as the music started. Pairs came to the dance floor and started dancing to the beat. Some local wizard band played wizard's ballroom dance music. Most of the muggle students found it quite amusing as the beats of the songs were quite fast indeed. Harry found himself thanking Hermione for the last minute dance lessons about waltz, samba, tango and other ballroom dance he got from her. He and Cho had been able to dance with some of the songs. After the musicians announced that the song they're playing would be the last one for the fast paced songs, Harry and Cho went back to the tables to rest a bit.

"Where did you learn to dance?" Cho asked him with a hint of surprise and interest seeping out from her features

"I had a last minute dance lesson from a very good friend of mine" he teased her with his cryptic answer.

"That must be a very long last minute dance lesson! You did really well back there, nowhere near during the Yule Ball," she commented as she blushed a bit.

"So I wasn't the only one watching other people's dates, eh?" he teased with a sly grin on his face.

"Well, I couldn't help it! Parvati was whimpering a bit when you danced!" Harry's face furrowed as she said that. Seeing the expression on his face, Cho decided to drop the topic, only to find out that Harry was playing on her.

Harry noticed Neville who seemed in a gleeful state as he held Padma in a slow dance. The atmosphere of the ball came from energetic to romantic as the slow dance came. The Weird Sisters were already playing, much to most girls' delight. He also noticed a seventh year Hufflepuff making his way towards them with a cocky grin on his face. Harry knew what was coming, so he had to act fast.

"May I have this dance?" Harry asked as Cho he grinned from ear to ear as he saw the seventh year Hufflepuff grunt out loud and stomp his feet away from them. _'Up yours!'_ he thought mischievously as turned back to Cho who looked bewildered with his actions.  
"What was that all about?"

"Just scaring some people away" he answered cryptically as he offered his right arm for her to take.

"Clever Potter," she commented as took Harry's arm to lead her to the dance floor.

Some prying eyes settled on the couple as they danced on the dance floor. Harry's astonishing new skills had evidently surprised a lot of people as even the professors watched them with amusement. After the first song, Professor McGonagall decided to cut in with the couple.

"Ms. Chang, may I steal your partner for a while?" she asked as she wore one of her rarest smiles.

"Be my guest" she said with a smile as she mouthed to Harry 'see you in a bit' and headed back to the tables.

"Your dancing skills prove to be very intriguing, Mr. Potter. I recall your father pulling off the same feat as he finally got his chance to take your mother to their graduation ball," she reminisced fondly as she and Harry continued to dance. "I heard they were quite the couple when they eventually got together," he added. "Oh yes they were. It was a shock to most of us to see your father to act out of his character as Hogwarts' most notorious prankster and be a perfect gentleman to your mother; a tamed wolf he is,"

Cho was making her way back to the table she and Harry sat before they danced. She was still grinning inwardly as she recalled a picture of Harry dancing with Professor McGonagall. It had been a known fact that Professor McGonagall was a very strict and stern teacher. And nobody expected her to act out of character and do such, but hey, it's Christmas Eve. _'That sure was a shocker'_ she told herself as she felt a hand over her shoulder. As she turned, he faced none other than one of the infamous Marauders; Remus Lupin.

"It seems that your partner got stolen, may I ask you for a chance to dance with me, then?" he asked as he smiled and held out his hand.

"Is it teacher's day too?" Cho joked as she took Lupin's hand and went to the dance floor. As they danced, Lupin began telling Cho tales of his and the Marauders' mischievous adventures during their time. Cho was really amused with the way Lupin had devised most of the Marauders' tactics since he was the brains of the said group. He also didn't fail to add the common feats Harry shared with his father, prongs. "Harry is mischievous like Prongs and the rest of us, but in a different way. He'd broken the school rules left and right to satisfy the curiosity flooding his mind," Lupin observed as they started talking about Harry's adventures since his first year. "Yes he did, he told me that he used to sneak in the Restricted Section of the Library under Madam Pince's nose to read books about Nicholas Flammel during his first year," she added. "Even Sirius was proud of him when Harry told him his adventures. If he was around tonight, he would have been happy to see you," Lupin's face fell a bit as he mentioned it. Just as the same time, the song ended and Harry reached them.

"Can I have my date back?" he mocked as he wore a sad kid's face as if his most precious toy got stolen by a bully. Cho and Lupin had to laugh at his face.

"What were you talking about?" he asked as the next song started.

"Lots of stuff," she smiled as they danced.

Returning to the tables, they noticed Ron, Dean, Seamus, Fred, George, and Eli helping their selves with firewhiskey. Harry had to give it to them; drinking firewhiskey inside Hogwarts. Well, it was Christmas Eve, so I guess it would be alright. But what made Harry and Cho' eyes widened was when Professor Lupin joined the boys for a drink. Even their dates found themselves drinking too. Harry and Cho gave a laugh and joined them as well.

"Don't forget! There's a party at the Gryffindor Tower after this! Free drinks and food! The music is on Dean! He's got muggle dance music!" Fred announced to everyone as the Hall erupted in cheers. Some of the teachers scowled and looked towards Professor for support, but the old man was smiling as well and his eyes were twinkling in a mischievous way. It seems the Christmas spirit got to him as well.

15 minutes before 12:00, Harry pulled Cho away from the crowd as they went outside the Great Hall near the lake. They just sat there silently and looked up into the sky. It was a very peaceful and joyful night for all of them. The silence wasn't uncomfortable at all; Cho loved this feeling. But she kept wondering if Harry was up to something. Harry then stood up and held out a hand.

As Cho got up, he held her close and pulled her up to his arms. Cho let out a little shriek of surprise as Harry gently heaved her up. She gave out a giggle as she saw Harry's trade mark lop-sided grin. To Cho's surprise, they started leaving the ground and ascending into the skies, nearing the canopy of stars and the throne of the moon.

Cho was in deep awe; she had never been this close to the skies even when she was riding a broom. Because of the heat Harry's body had been producing, the coldness of the skies didn't affect her.

"This is beautiful," she whispered to him as she locked her fingers behind Harry's neck.

"I love you, Cho,"

Harry whispered those words as he looked intently into Cho's eyes. Cho on the other side was in shock as Harry said the words she had been itching to hear from him.

"I love you,"

Just then as their heads neared, the merry cheers from the Great Hall reached them. But that wouldn't stop them from having this moment.

"3…" the cheers came as their counted down the time before Christmas, still the couple's heads neared.

"2…" only inches set their lips apart.

"1…" their lips met and shared one of the most sincere kisses they ever shared or even the most genuine kiss they'll ever share.

"Merry Christmas!" the cheers erupted as fireworks erupted from the quidditch field and the students rushing towards the pitch for the magnificent display of colors in the night sky.

"Merry Christmas," Harry greeted Cho was speechless, to say the least about the event that had just taken place. All that she ever did was lock her lips into Harry's for a long, deep, and passionate kiss.

_oAt the Gryffindor Tower: the After Partyo_

A surprising amount of students came over to celebrate the festivities taking place in the Gryffindor Common Room. Fred and George had used a spell to expand the room to be able to hold the overwhelming number of guests that came. Even a number of professors, namely professor Lupin, Julio came to celebrate with the students. None of the teachers seem to mind the presence of alcoholic beverages in the party as they even helped themselves with some bottles of muggle liquor that came from Dean and Seamus.

"This vodka is really nice," Lupin commented as he got pulled by a sixth year Ravenclaw to dance.

The girls had ceased the opportunity at hand to team up and pull Julio as well to a dance. Eli let out a laugh as he saw his friend get helpless around a crowd of wild girls dancing with him. "That's a very RARE sight! Collin! I think a picture should be evident here!" he cheered as Collin took several pictures of a madly blushing Julio crowded by a large number of girls.

Just then, Harry and Cho came in to join their celebration. A lot of people saw the change in their behavior as the couple looked a bit more glued together; they wouldn't leave each other, much to the protest of their friends. Cho's closest peers; Rhea, Jane and Zoe had already given up to take her away from Harry and had just reminded her to join them on the bar Fred had made earlier. Harry however got dragged by Ron and Hermione to join them on the couches with the rest of their Gryffindor friends. Seeing that Cho can't get away also, she called for her friends to join them.

"Where have you been?" Ron asked with a sly smile escaping his lips. Harry grinned at him as a sign of his answer. Ron could only give a shrug of frustration.

"Serves you right!" Hermione cheered triumphantly as she stuck out her tongue towards Ron.

"Poor icke-Ronnikins," Ginny added with a mock sad face. Ron felt helpless at the moment as he gave up, much to everyone's laughter.

The party went on until sunrise where most of the guest fell asleep in the comfortable couches of the Gryffindor common room. Dayna and Eli were found cuddled together, asleep on a bean bag Dean had transfigured from a cotton ball Parvati had. Much to everyone else's amusement, Ron and Hermione fell asleep on a couch together, with their heads on top of each other. Harry had fallen asleep on the carpet of the couch area with his head on Cho's lap whose hands were on his head as she fell asleep while her back was leaning on the couch Ron and Hermione were sleeping. Parvati and Seamus were also seen asleep together while sitting on one of the transfigured bean bags near the stairs to the dormitories. Draco and Rhea could also be seen sitting together, barely awake, on a pillow Draco had conjured near Harry and Cho were sleeping. Padma and Neville were still up talking to each other. Dean and Ginny were also up helping Fred and George sober up, that sight of the twins being drunk with muggle liquor was really a rare sight. Much to the "survivors'" delight was the sight of Julio sleeping on one of the couches, with all of the girls still around him. Professor Lupin however managed to get back to his quarters while still feeling a bit tipsy round about 3 hours before dawn.

"Not that wasn't bad at all, right?" Dean commented nonchalantly as he helped Ginny sober up the twins who were doing very weird things, it was a good thing that their wands were in their pockets and away from their hands.

"Want some candies? I love candies," Fred offered as he stuck out one of the Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezees canary creams. He had been saying the same things all over again for hours. Dean and Ginny had to stifle their laughter to be able to do their task properly. George was doing the same, offering them another product over and over again.

"Well, this is the best and wildest Christmas I've ever experienced. I'll give you that,"


	13. Going Down?

**_Chapter 13: Going Down?_**

The after party that the Gryffindors had made turned out a very huge success, huge beyond their dreams. Almost all of the students came to their celebrations as even some Slytherins managed to find their selves lingering in their arch-rival's common room. Now that was a rare sight, eh?

The clean up was a very hard task; the "survivors", Dean, Ginny, Neville and Padma, took it to them selves to start fixing the common room as much as they can before everyone wakes up. Gift wrappers were seen everywhere as most of the students used the party last night as a somewhat gift-giving hour. Mugs and cups that still contained muggle beer, firewhiskey and liquor was found on the bar Fred and George had made. The funnel and hose that Dean brought as he called as "Beer Bong" was also there; that mean object delivers beer to your mouth non-stop. The poor first victim of that device was Dennis Creevey who went out cold a few minutes after facing the torture. A seventh year Hufflepuff had lent Eli a muggle guitar and started playing some songs that were famous in the muggle world. Most of magic-folk students found those songs amusing as they cuddled near the couches where Eli was "performing". Some of the other students who knew the words of the song Eli played took it to them selves and sang with Eli's playing, thankfully, their voices were really nice.

The first one's to wake up were 2 of Cho's closest friends, Jane and Zoe, who tried their best to help Ginny and the rest of the survivors on their impending task. This day was their last day before the Christmas break, and that would mean that hang-overs are quite welcome, thankfully enough for the heavily drunk's sake.

"These people look like dead corpses! They sleep like the dead! So soundless!" Jane whispered with an amused tone in her voice as she helped Padma clean the empty mugs. "Yeah, it's a miracle that Ron managed to sleep without snoring so loud," Ginny muttered as she continued to wash the dirty dishes and glasses. "You can say that again!" Dean added. Apparently, Dean had sleeping troubles due to Ron's monstrous snoring.

"I'm guessing Harry and Cho are official now," Padma mused as she moved to help Neville who was picking up the extra litter around the room.

"I guess so, you should have seen them together last night; they were like two pieces of paper glued together!" Dean told her as both him and Ginny delivered the clean plates and glasses on a nearby table.

"How about Ron and Hermione?" Neville asked nonchalantly.

"Well, it took them long enough if they just got together long enough. Hermione hasn't told me anything yet, though," Ginny shrugged as she wiped a dish dry.

"Yep. Ron's an insensitive wart sometimes. He seems to act like a 3yr old when it comes to love and the likes," Dean said.

"Oh well. But you should look at them sleeping together there on a couch. It's impossible for them not to be mistaken as not a couple! They're surrounded by long time couples and newly found couples!" Zoe chirped as she eyed Harry and Cho who seemed to be sleeping soundlessly.

"Did you see the face Dayna made as the girls cheered on Eli when he played that Hufflepuff's guitar? It was priceless! She looked like she was going to rip a girls head off!" Dean said.

"Speaking of, what had been the highlight of the night was the ever-unbreakable Professor Bloodstone being helpless and all that around a bunch of girls! THAT was priceless!" Jane countered Dean's comment.

"Amen to that!" Ginny chirped as Dean's face grew a bit sour and pouted out. "I thought you should be on my side?" he asked with a mock hurt voice.

_o0o_

After a short while, more students woke up to leave the common room after helping up in cleaning the room. Eli had been immediately busy with annoying Julio with the picture Colin had taken that night as Julio tried to snatch it from Eli's grasps as he went on and on chanting "look who's a helpless git now?" Everyone had to laugh at this, surely this thing about the "young" professor won't stop for a long time.

Cho's eyes fluttered open as she groaned lightly and stretched her arms with a yawn. _'That was a long night,'_ she thought to herself. She took a look at Harry, who had his head resting on her lap. The memories of last night came back to her mind as it sent waves of fulfillment and joy through her spine. There was a stronger unspoken bond between them. They had managed to take a step further in their relationship as friends. And now, they'd be facing the same demons together, like all couples do. She gently shook one of Harry's shoulders as she murmured to him lightly to wake up.

"Mmm… 5 more minutes please?" Harry pleaded sleepily without opening his eyes as he made a grab for Cho's arm and held it in his arms and returned to sleep. Before he blacked out once more, she could here Cho's giggles and weak signs of protest.

Most of the people look mildly surprised at the sight of Ron and Hermione as they slept soundlessly together on one couch. Most of the Gryffindors had to stifle a laugh since it was either that they thought it to be impossible of this bickering pair to have ever come around or it had been about time since their initial denial of affection.

Harry eventually managed to wake himself up 5 minutes later, much to Cho's amusement. "Very accurate, Potter," she whispered gently to his ear as Harry sat up near her. "I told you so," he grinned as Cho rested her head on Harry's shoulder. Harry glanced up and also had to keep his laughter at bay at the sight of his two best friends cuddled closely together, sleeping peacefully on a Christmas morning.

"They've been like that since last night," Cho told him as she saw the expression on Harry's face. "Which reminds me," she continued. "I have yet to give you my gift," she grinned as she lazily got up and pulled Harry up as well. "A little longer?" he pleaded as he wrestled Cho back to the carpet. "You're such whiner! Come on! It's Christmas for Merlin's sake. We still have to go to Great Hall for breakfast in a matter of minutes! Come on!" she said as she kissed Harry on the lips and got up, managing a few amused stares from the "survivors" and dusted her clothes a bit, Harry following suit.

"Breakfast? Who said breakfast?" murmured a very sleeping Ron as his eyes fluttered open. "Be still would you?" complained an equally sleepy Hermione as she absent-mindedly slapped Ron's chest which merited him a painful groan.

"Aha! I have a picture! Who wants it? Ron and Hermione sleeping together!" Collin announced mischievously as Hermione and Ron came to their full awareness and made a run towards Collin who ran for his life. Harry noticed one of Collin's pictures that he had taken earlier while everyone else was sitting. It was a picture of him and Cho sleeping under Hermione and Ron sleeping as well. _'This would be worth keeping' _he thought as snatched the picture away from the table where Collin had just been if Hermione and Ron had not chased him away, pleading for his dear sanity. Poor Collin, Merlin help him.

As Harry and Cho made their way to the Ravenclaw tower, Cho made Harry wait inside their common room as she dashed towards the girls' dormitories to freshen up and retrieve her gift for Harry. As she returned, she was holding a small lacquered box.

"Merry Christmas," she chirped as she kissed Harry lightly on the lips and handed him the box. As Harry opened it, the box revealed an old, yet very well maintained pure silver talisman; a medieval pocket watch that had a long silver chain attached to it.

"It's been passed down from generations in my father's family. It was supposed to be my brother's if he had been able to graduate. But father decided to give it to me, after Lao's passing," she told Harry as she wore one of her unreadable faces. Harry held her close as he put the talisman into his sweater's pocket inside its robe with its chain attached to the belt hole of his pants. "Thanks Cho, I'll put this into good use," he assured her as he held her tighter.

At the strike of 10:00, everything was back to normal again as the students piled in the Great Hall once more for breakfast. Freshened up, and sobered up, the students began chatting about the festivities that took place last night.

"Oh I'm sure Julio will be a favorite amongst the girls for a long time," Eli commented as he snickered at the thought of Julio going weak around girls.

"Yeah, you should have seen Lupin too! It was mad! He was saying some funny things! He even told us his days here as a student!" Fred added as he helped himself with some pumpkin juice. "We idolize him and the Marauders alright, being the patriarchs of pranksters here in Hogwarts," George commented as Fred nodded in agreement. "I expect you two to take our throne when we leave?" the twins eyed both Dean and Seamus as they nodded with sly looks on their faces. "But I doubt it if you'll beat the one person we've molded into our likeness, our very own Virginia," George mused out loud as Ginny mocked a noble bow. "I shall make sure they are up to the task at all times," she said as Hermione scowled a bit.

Just as they were having fun dining together, the daily routine of morning owls coming to breakfast came. Some parcels that the owls dropped happened to land on some of the students' food, much to their dismay. Ron snatched Harry's copy of the Daily Prophet as Harry continued to help himself with some food. Cho, who happened to receive a letter was a bit crest fallen after reading the letter that was sent to her.

"Who's it from?" Harry asked as he saw the face Cho wore.

"My relatives, they want me back at China for the break. They say I'd have to stay there also during the summer till I get a summer job,"

"You can stay with us in Grimauld Place! I mean, I'm sure Harry and Lupin wouldn't mind it," Ron suggested as Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, you lot! I'll see if they'll allow me," she smiled as she returned to her meal.

_oThe Riddle Houseo_

"Tell me, Nassil, what did you say will be the most effective strategy to wear down Potter?" Voldemort asked once more with a manic expression on his face.

"Being the dragoon that he is, my liege, I think we could twist his emotions and be possibly able to set him berserk. With that, he will be on nobody's side, or even on our side if we take careful planning on how to ruin his life," the sinister drow high king reiterated seeing the satisfied look on his master's face.

"Does the Valsharess know of all these?" Voldemort asked.

"As of late, indeed she knows. She wishes to inform you that she is willing to help us in this ordeal by allowing us to contact her infamous Deurgar Army. The hordes of dark dwarves who delve beneath the surfaces and mountains with us drows,"

"That is most interesting. Wormtail! Inform the others of the changes,"

"Y-Yes my lord," Wormtail squeaked as he rushed off the chamber of his master.

As soon as Voldemort had dismissed his servant, Wormtail, he turns back his attention to Nassil.

"So," he started as he shifted comfortably in his throne. "how fares the first "reencounter" with the dragoon-kind?" the dark lord asked nonchalantly to the drow..

"We've reckon the half-blood had been improving his skills as a swordsman rapidly. He could easily defeat one of my field commanders in a closed duel if given a chance," the drow commented.

"Interesting. Potters truly surprise me every time. What of the high general?"

"The Baalspawn managed to stab him with a mortal blade. That should slow them down a bit. Are you sure about trusting this… freebooter?"

"He will prove to be an invaluable asset when the time comes that his true potential awakens. Trust me," Voldemort said again as his manic grin grew more intense at the thought of accessing the ultimate prowess of a Baalspawn. "What of our other asset? The weak-hearted?"

"Ah, yes the betrayer. He still hasn't struck the right chord to unlock the secret in his blood. But in due time, he will. If him and Potter turn to us, I doubt anyone will be able to stop our conquest," the drow commented highly as he took a chalice of liquor and sipped it elegantly.

_oBack at Hogwartso_

Their last day in the 1st Semester at Hogwarts was spent all day by having as much fun as they could around the hallways and the vicinity of Hogwarts. Snowballs were seen flying freely in the air and hitting unlucky people who failed to dodge the oncoming flying object. Fred and George suggested a friendly 10minute-per-game Quidditch tournament between the 4 house teams just to blow off steam. The stadiums were packed once the news reached the ears of fanatics of quidditch and fans of the darlings of the quidditch field. The first two teams to play were Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Hufflepuff's new seeker proved to be quite the player Dean had told them as he displayed magnificent show of skills in the pitch. Malfoy however was brilliant as well in the field as his former frustration on Harry being number 1 fueled him to do better with his seeker skills. He had a hard time outclassing the Hufflepuff seeker though.

Jeremy Thomas, a 5th year Hufflepuff, and the seeker of the Hufflepuff quidditch team was in-par with Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter's former arch rival. There they were, battling it out in the air as they raced neck and neck to chase the snitch hovering just above the center goalpost of the Hufflepuff side. As the pair raged through the cold, snowy, breezy air of December towards the Hufflepuff goalpost at break-neck speed, a bludger came pelting its way toward them. As it had been foreseen, the bludger was sent by one of the Slytherins' beaters. As its original target, Malfoy who was obviously in the bludger's flight path made a quick, steep dive downwards to avoid the oncoming menace. Just as he managed to pull off his maneuver, Jeremy, who was inches away from grasping the snitch was sent crashing down. With his new found skills however, Malfoy made a quick decisive maneuver as he bolted upward and u-turned to crash downward at a record breaking speed. Hoping the snitch hasn't left its previous location, Draco put out his hand to reach for it. He felt it, wiggling within his fist. He had caught the snitch.

But this wasn't over, he continued to dive with incredible speed, pushing his Nimbus 2001's capabilities into unseen heights. 15 feet before crashing to the ground, Draco reached the unconscious crashing form of Jeremy. With one swift maneuver, he snatched the Hufflepuff seeker's body and turned his broomstick upwards only 5 feet away from the ground. The whole pitch was cheering madly. For the first time in his life, the whole population of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was cheering him, Draco Malfoy.

"SLYTHERIN WINS!!! 300-230!!! UNBELIEVABLE PERFORMANCE BY DRACO MALFOY! TAKE THAT HARRY POTTER!" the Gryffindor announcer exclaimed ecstatically as he received a few sour looks from Harry's loyal supporters. Harry didn't mind though, _'Something tells me I will be looking forward into playing in the pitch with Malfoy. I can just feel it,'_ he mused to himself as he continued cheering on for his new found buddy, Draco Malfoy.

Malfoy was slowly getting back to the good graces of his fellow housemates. After having himself associated as a friend to Harry Potter, the Slytherins treated him like mud around the Slytherin territories. His old cronies; Crabbe and Goyle now served Nott and Avery who took it to themselves to bully Malfoy often. Much to their pride's fatal damage, they had to praise and congratulate Malfoy now for a job well done.

"That was bloody brilliant, Malfoy! How did you do that?" Crabbe asked , being a no-pride-dim-wit as he and Goyle was. "Practice, Crabbe, practice," Malfoy said with his smooth talking manner back and intact. Nott and Every however couldn't stand it and gave him a grudging pat on the back with a whisper "Nice job," Malfoy could only smile at them after seeing them as baffled as they were.

"When's going to be the next game?" Ginny asked as she and the rest of the old Gryffindor group and their new members which consisted of a Hufflepuff 6th year, 3 Ravenclaw 7th years and 1 Ravenclaw 6th year walked along the corridors.

"I think I remember Madam Hooch saying that there will be a 30min. gap between every game," Rhea said as she kept an eye out for Draco who was still in the quidditch locker rooms. _'What's taking him so long?"_ she thought herself.

"Well, it'll be our game next, what do you guys plan to do?" Cho asked casually as she walked alongside Harry and Ron. "Why should we tell you?" Ron eyed her with a raised eye brow. Cho pouted her lips as she looked towards Harry for help as he only grinned towards her. "Sorry, Cho. But, Ron has a point," Cho shrugged a bit and looked mock flustered "Fine, be that way!" all of them laughed at the sight of Cho throwing tantrums in public. "Well I think we all do want to see a FAIR game, don't we?" Eli butt-in with a mischievous wink at Harry. "You two," Dayna pointed at Harry and Cho "in the field, you don't know each other, alright?" she reminded them with a mock stern face. "Are you somewhat related to Oliver Wood?" Harry whined as the others snickered at his comment. "Actually I am his second cousin," she said with an innocent face running through her features. "Well it runs with the blood then!" Ron exclaimed as everyone gave out a hearty laugh.

As soon as they were finished with their last minute rituals, the quidditch players of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw made their ways toward the locker rooms. Fred and George had told Ginny however to come with them for an important announcement.

"Alright, eyes here, listen up," George called out as the whole team huddled near.

"Collin will be replaced by Ginny due to unforeseen circumstances. Bloody Professor Bloodstone suspended him off the team's starting line-up after he accidentally whacked Bloodstone with his broom right smack in the head," Fred announced as most of the team snickered and gave a very nerve-racked Ginny a warm welcome to the team.

"You'll be fine, Gin. Just don't think about the crowd and you'll do fine!" Harry encouraged as they made their way towards the entrance of the field. "You outclassed Bill! Remember that!" Ron cheered her on as they made their way towards the center field where they met their competitors; the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, looking armed and ready as well.

"Now, I expect nothing but the best from the lot of you. Remember, I want a clean game, alright? Good luck" with that Madam Hooch had released the balls into the air, signaling the start of the game.

"AAAND THEY'RE OFF! Weasley catches the quaffle for the Gryffindors for the first possession, she makes is past Davies and looks for a teammate, she passes the quaffle to Finnigan! Finnigan penetrates, shoots, BLOCKED! What a nice play there by the Ravenclaw keeper!"

Harry watched the game from above as he tried to keep an eye out for the snitch. Cho kept her word and put her head down to work. She hasn't even breathed a word to Harry ever since they left for the locker rooms.

Surveying the field, Cho made a mental note to keep a close watch on Harry's movements. She had to make the right critical decisions. Harry's been famous for pulling off incredible feigns against his opponents. '_Fool me once, shame on you, Harry. Fool me twice, Merlin's sake. Shame on me,'_ she thought in her mind to shake off her jitters of having to play with Harry.

Harry kept on multi-tasking again; he surveyed the game, looked out for the snitch, wait for the right time to perform a bluff. According to Fred's calculations, they had to wait till they had a lead more than 70 and their score more than 150. The current score was 80-30 in Gryffindor's favor. Ginny had been able to loosen up and take charge of the game. Fred and George had been doing a good job of shutting Roger Davies down as he was the only chaser for Ravenclaw to score all the 30 points.

Just then, he saw Cho's head jerk swiftly towards an oncoming bludger which she had avoided easily. _'Thanks Fred,' _he thought inwardly as he smirked at Cho who lost her concentration. Seeing the imminent window of opportunity, he dived down at break neck speed. Cho, who was left off her guard from the bludger attack, saw Harry diving down at an incredible speed rate. Seeing that she could still have a chance of following him, she chased him down the pitch like a madwoman.

Seeing that Cho took his bait, he waited till he was only 12 feet from the ground when he pulled up. Cho who was apparently just behind the twigs of Harry's broom lost control of her broom momentarily as she scrambled for broom control before hitting the ground. Much to Harry's relief, he saw Cho pulling back up, much to Harry's horror, Cho was mad.

'_Just wait till I get my hands on you, Harry James Potter!'_ she thought furiously as she scanned the field once more for any sign of the snitch. _'Remember Cho, it's a game. It's his job to keep you guessing what move he's going to make. Feigns are part of the game,'_ a voice reasoned out in Cho's mind. Cho's temper was skyrocketing however, yet, she was still to get in under control. She knew better than to go upset over a silly match.

Just as Harry regained full focus, the score was now 240-130 in Gryffindor's favor. "This is it," he muttered to himself as he began searching the field more intently, patrolling the air for any signs of snitch while doing barrel rolls, loops and other maneuvers to avoid stray bludgers.

"A magnificent display of quidditch up there by Potter. It seems as if it's another of his new found tricks!" the announcer commented as the game went on.

There it was, a glittering hint of gold, hovering 150 feet from the center line. Harry made a dash for it as Cho followed suit. She knew this was no bluff as she saw the glittering piece of gold that was in Harry's flight path. Suddenly, the snitch dived down swiftly as soon as Harry got in striking distance. The tables were turned, Cho had the upper hand now, and she was at it. Harry wasn't going to make it in time. He knew it. _'Wait!' _a thought ran through his mind. He knew this wasn't safe. But yet again, what was safe to Harry Potter? He wore a mischievous grin and checked the wand in his robe as he dove down as fast as his firebolt would dare him to go. Upon reaching the optimum limit of the broom's speed, Harry had dismounted himself from the broom and started free-falling within the 100feet-mark.

"He's gone nuts!" Ron exclaimed as he saw Harry's actions.

"He's a nut case!" the announcer called out.

"He's a nutter," Roger Davies mumbled in disbelief when he saw Harry dismount from his broom.

Harry was rapidly gaining on Cho and the snitch when he free-fell. He was no less than 70 feet up in the air when he caught up with a wide-eyed Cho who was also gawking at him for not having his broom with him. Smiling innocently, Harry blazed past her and went on towards the snitch. The snitch was 40 feet away from him and Cho. Upon his calculations, he'd be able to catch the snitch by the time they were 30 feet in the air and would be able to get back on his broom more or less 5 feet from the ground.

Well…

More or less…

50 feet, 40 feet, 30 feet, Harry could feel the snitch shaking mildly in his hand and the crowd was wild on their feet. With his back facing the ground, Harry could see Cho far back and his broom free-falling as well. With a swift move, he snatched his wand from his pocket and chanted "_Accio Firebolt!_" Harry's infamous broom came thundering towards him when he summoned the broom. The broom made contact with him no less than 5 feet above the ground. With his trained seeker reflexes, Harry swiftly mounted is broom and kept balance as he was only inches above ground.

"SPECTACULAR CATCH BY HARRY POTTER! GRYFFINDOR WINS 390-130! DID YOU SEE WHAT HE JUST DID? THAT WAS AMAZING!" the field announcer exclaimed as his words were immediately drowned by the overwhelming noise of the cheering crowd.

As Harry touched down, his team mates and the Ravenclaw players as well ran to him to congratulate him for pulling such an unbelievable stunt. "Rudy brilliant, Harry!" Dean cheered as he patted Harry on the back as well as the Ravenclaw players who were grinning madly as well. Harry's heart skipped a beat when he saw Cho coming forward with a mixed expression between joy, anger, and worry. Harry could hear Ron whistling while Seamus saying "Uh-oh. Dead meat, Harry,"

"What were you thinking?" she demanded.

"Er…"

"You almost got yourself killed?"

"Come on Cho…"

"You had me worried!" she cried as she flung her arms around Harry's neck and playfully hit him on the chest with her fists, giggling lightly while wrapped in his arms. "You're gonna get some the next time you do that again, Clever Potter!" she scolded him with worry as Harry couldn't help but smile. _'What a game that was,'_ Harry thought to himself as he rubbed Cho's back to lighten up.

_New Characters' Profile:_

_Name; Elijah Austin_

_Age: 894 years old._

_Race: Dragoon_

_Occupation: High General to the Dragoon Imperial Army, Harry's 2nd mentor and friend._

_School: Hogwarts (6th year Gryffindor)_

_Height: 6'0"_

_Eyes: Blue_

_Hair: Black_

_Name: Gaius Octavius_

_Age: 3980 years old_

_Race: Dragoon_

_Ocuupation: Lord of all Dragoons, rider of Breggor, the great Golden dragon_

_Height: 6'11"_

_Eyes: Grey_

_Hair: White_

_Name: Rhea Robinson_

_Age: 16 years old_

_Race: Human_

_Occupation: Student_

_School: Hogwarts (6th year Ravenclaw)_

_Height: 5'6"_

_Eyes: Green_

_Hair: Red_

_Name: Eärwen Evergreen_

_Age: 2011 years old._

_Race: Half-Elf (Calaquendi or the High Elves)_

_Occupation: Elven Seer- the only daughter of Olwë, the Great Elven Seer and High Lord of Elves, Substitute Divinations teacher_

_School: Hogwarts (teacher)_

_Height: 5'7"_

_Eyes: blue-green_

_Hair: Platinum Blond; somewhat grey-ish as well_

_Name: Nassil Darkshadow_

_Age: 2749 years old_

_Race: Drow (Sindar or the dark/grey elves)_

_Occupation: Drow High King, Right-Hand of Voldemort_

_School: none_

_Height: 5'8"_

_Eyes: Grey_

_Hair: Silver_

_Name: Blake_

_Age: 250 years old_

_Race: Half-Human, Half-God (Baalspawn)_

_Occupation: Freebooter, Mercenary under Voldemort's orders_

_School: none_

_Height: 6'3"_

_Eyes: Blue_

_Hair: Black_

_Name: Jane Sanders_

_Age: 17 years old_

_Race: Human_

_Occupation: Student_

_School: Hogwarts (7th year Ravenclaw)_

_Height: 5'3"_

_Eyes: Grey_

_Hair: Brown_

_Name: Zoe Luis_

_Age: 17_

_Race: Human_

_Occupation: Student_

_School: Hogwarts (7th year Ravenclaw)_

_Height: 5'5"_

_Eyes: Blue_

_Hair: Blonde_

_Name: Dayna Walker_

_Age: 16_

_Race: Human_

_Occupation: Student_

_School: Hogwarts (6th year Hufflepuff)_

_Height: 5'8"_

_Eyes: Brown_

_Hair: Brown_


	14. Conventional Methods

**_Chapter 14: Conventional Methods _**

The excitement of the match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw ebbed till the next match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw had a little breather during the break when Madam Hooch gave another 30 minute break. Their game had been of less impact than of the game between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. None the less, they still managed to make the crowd go "ooh" and "ahh" every once in a while. Cho and Jeremy went on a very interesting seeker battle that ended down to the wire as well. After gaining the upper hand on the closing stages of the stand out, Cho enclosed her hand on a wildly wiggling snitch to seal the game for the Ravenclaw's favor 230-170.

The next game proved to have an impact to everyone in school. The rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin was second to none in Hogwarts history. It had been a known fact that these 2 houses had been at it since the start of everything. To add spice to the rivalry of these to loathing houses, the tension between Harry and Draco in the pitch was all but forgotten. Sure they were friends of the field, but in it, it's a different story. Jam-packed, and pressure-tight, the game commences.

"I want a clean match, you lot. I'm not going to repeat myself," Madam Hooch warned them sternly as she gestured the team captains to shake their hands, who did so grudgingly.

"AAAAAAAAAAAND WE'RE GO!!!!" the announcer started as the players started the game with Slytherin gaining first possession. As expected, the game was especially rough; chasers falling off their broom, bludgers flying all over the pitch, players having nosebleeds and black eyes, and the likes. Harry and Malfoy haven't breathed a word yet. The two chose silent treatment than to bicker with each other. _'He's maturing,'_ Harry smiled to himself as he saw Malfoy scanning the field intently for any signs of the snitch.

"Slytherin leads Gryffindor! 50-70 with 7 minutes remaining in the announcer said as both team's playing pace stepped up a notch. The game had a very serious atmosphere as every player had a fire of burning determination blazing in their eyes as they battle for victory. It was a friendship game, yet, their rivalries are much more important than anything, sad to say.

Seeing Malfoy in frenzy for a sign of the snitch, Harry sped with all his effort opposite of Malfoy. Upon seeing this, Malfoy tore after Harry's wake in hopes of stealing the win for his team. Launching a flurry of loops and rolls, Harry decided to pull off a very dangerous feign that required him to go head-on on Malfoy's direction. Malfoy's eyes widened as he saw Harry make 180 degree turn, faced him and sped towards his way. Frozen by the image of Harry speeding towards him, he didn't do anything. As Harry closed the gap between them with only centimeters sparing them from a mid-air collision, Harry drove his broom up and pulled away from an ice-faced Malfoy as the crow cheered wildly.

"Amazing bluff by Potter! But wait! Malfoy found the snitch near the faculty stands!"

Before Harry knew it, Malfoy was already dashing towards the snitch. Harry had to yet again do another stunt. But what now? Harry sped with all the broom's speed could offer as he gained on Malfoy fast. As he inched closer, he was side by side Malfoy who tried to shove him off his broom. The snitch was only inches away as it swerved into another position; in the center field only 15 feet from the ground. Side by side once more, they dragged on towards the snitch. _'This is it,'_ Harry thought as he jumped out of his broom with a help of a little boost from his broom. While on mid-air, Harry grasped with both his outstretched arms and waiting hands the irrepressible golden snitch to seal their victory. Harry had no more spare time or levitation to mutter a summoning spell for his broom as he crashed in the ground, rolling.

"HE DID IT AGAIN! POTTER CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS 200-70! WHAT A GAME!" the commentator cheered as the crowd joined the players in the field for a celebration.

Harry on the other hand was thankful not have gotten any injuries from the crash. He noticed Malfoy touch down near him with an unusual smile in his face.

"Nice game, Potter. I hate to admit it, but wouldn't have dared to do what you did. You're one nut-cased bloke!" he said as he lent a hand to pull Harry up.

"Harry James Potter!" Cho's worried, yet angry voice came. "you did it again! Do you have any plans on killing me with a heart attack?!" she demanded as flung her arms around Harry who was grinning like hell. "So, what's that something I'm gonna get when I do that thing again?" he taunted Cho with a mischievous grin. "This" Cho kissed Harry on the lips, making Harry's team mates whistle while Ron groans in protest. "Get a room, mate!"

_o0o_

Harry had been the last person to open his gifts since he was busy with Cho and the quidditch friendship games the whole day. He received mostly the usual stuff he received during Christmas also with the new number of gifts he had since the arrival and return of some significant people in Harry's life. Much to Harry's surprise and bewilderment, Hagrid gave Harry muggle keys for his Christmas present.

_Dear Harry,_

_Don't worry this key will surely be of great importance to you when you reach the right age. Come and approach me at the end of the School Year. I'll be explaining everything to you. _

_Hagrid_

Ron had yet again gave him a box of chocolate frogs, Hermione gave him a hard bound record book about enchanted weapons that magical races had created all over the past 1 and a half centuries. Mrs. Weasley had given him her home made goodies with the traditional sweater that she normally gives during Christmas. Remus and the rest of the order had chipped in together and gave him an enchanted medium shield as a gift. The shield bore elfish markings in the sides, trimmed with gold while at the middle of the shield was a fierce looking golden dragon.

_Dear Harry, _

_We hope this shield does you well. We've all contributed some helpful charms to that shield for it to be of good use to you. You might find that as an invaluable tool when you train or fight as a dragoon against Voldemort. _

_Train hard, study hard._

_Order of the Phoenix_

Finally, Harry's eyes settled on the last gift that he had left; the gift from his parents. Harry tore the parcel's wrapper immediately as his eyes trailed on new broomstick. _Lightning Rod_ it says.

_Dear Harry,_

_I have heard from Remus that you've been quite the seeker back there in Hogwarts. I'm really proud of you, son. I'm actually looking forward to seeing you up in the air when the games start there in school. Apparently, Dumbledore had allowed us and your mum to come there and watch your first game, Merry Christmas, son._

_Prongs_

_Dear Harry, _

_Since you and your father share the same passion for quidditch, I let him choose the right broom for you. I hope you like this one. We'll see you back here in the break!_

_Mum_

Harry's heart warmed up as he closed the letter. His parents had sent him one of the best gifts yet. His life was starting to come together at last. His spirits were higher than ever and now, he feels like nothing can bring him down.

_o0o_

Harry and the rest of the group had settled in the Hogwarts Express for the return trip home for their Christmas Vacation. Everyone had been very busy collecting their stuff and arranging them properly. Seeking refuge for the comfort of the train's lofty seats, Harry and the rest took seats in a cabin and enjoyed their cheerful bantering. Harry had missed this feeling ever since he went home during the end of his 3rd year at Hogwarts. After that year, nothing seemed to be that happy. Until now, that is.

Harry, Cho, Ron, Hermione, Eli, Ginny, Dean, Draco, and Rhea were playing exploding snap ever since they left Hogwarts. Poor Ron had been always the unlucky person to have everything explode on him before the last card was used. Poor Ronnie-ickle. Fred and George came by to check on them once in a while as they made rounds in introducing the newest products of the WWW.

"Say Eli, where's Dayna? I thought she'd join us here?" Ron asked as he sneaked a hand in Hermione's box of every flavor beans.

"She's with her friends. They won't let her be until she hung out with them. The poor girl,"

Just then, a knock came and Dayna came in, looking a bit flushed. As she took her seat beside Eli, the games and chatting resumed once more.

"What took you?" Eli asked her as he and Ron played wizard's chess.

"My friends kept on asking me things," she said as her cheeks tinted red with embarrassment.

The trip was very nice as they manage to have fun with each other's company. They continued telling stories and jokes as the train came to a halt in the Platform of 9¾. As they stepped out, Harry tried getting used to the larger number of welcoming party which consisted of the Weasleys; Bill and Charlie was present due to their tasks in the Order, Moody, Tonks, Kingsley, Mundungus and Mrs. Figg was there too to escort all of them, and of course, Lilly and James.

Harry and Cho bid each other goodbyes as they hugged before they parted ways as Cho went towards an Asian-looking couple who were smiling warmly at her. _'That doesn't look so bad at all,'_ Harry thought as he reminisced the times the Dursleys used to pick him up at the end of every term.

Harry then came towards his parents who each gave him warm hugs. "We'll be staying at Sirius' old house with everyone else," James told him as the three approached the Weasleys and the rest of the Order.

"Ready to go?" Moody growled in his usual grouchy self as he took out a pot which turned out to be a portkey towards 12 Grimauld Place. The rest of them nodded as they took hold of the portkey and apparadrated away.

_o12 Grimauld Placeo_

Everyone was in high spirits as they prepared for Christmas in Grimauld Place; Mrs. Weasley had Lily's help with the food as the others decorated the big house.

Speaking of the house, it looked much more homey than it looked before. With the help of some house elves Professor Dumbledore had sent over the summer, the old Black Mansion looked as if it was restored to its early years. The also had been fortunate enough to have managed to put away with the portrait of Mrs. Black, much to everyone's delight. The antique and highly fragile items that surrounded the house had all been stuffed in a transfigured attic courtesy of Professor McGonagall. The rooms of the house were back to its classy state with all the varnished wood and well polished furniture.

"Well, it certainly looks much more of a house than it was last year, alright," Ron said as he nodded his head while they sat in the living room of the big mansion. With the snow falling down outside, they had made they own snowmen. Much to their amusement, Eli's snowman ended up having a pair of tree branches as wings behind is back.

"What do you expect? I do that all the time since my childhood!" he defended as Ron and Harry started to laugh out loud.

_oThe Riddle Houseo_

Voldemort was once again meeting with his servants and "allies" in his study, planning the most effective way to ruin Harry Potter. The sound of his name made Voldemort's blood boil up to no avail. Aside from his parents, Harry had been the only one to have lived another day to tell the tale that he had faced, and defeated Voldemort time and time again. Soon enough, if he didn't act decisively, Harry would gain the ultimate upper hand and finally defeat him. Once and for all.

"Nassil, how long till the final preparations?" Voldemort asked as the evil drow king appeared from the shadows after meeting with his royal drow council.

"Soon, my lord. All will be set in month and a half," he said with his eyes twinkling in a manic way.

"Very well. The fall of the so called Boy Who Lived shall be at hand. My utter domination of all things will now come!" Voldemort proclaimed as he laughed sinisterly along with the rest of the occupants of his study.

_oBack at the Black Mansiono_

For the rest of the days during the break, everything seemed nice and peaceful. Harry had been able to catch up with his parents after their 16-year absence. He had been able to keep in touch with Cho, who was still in China with her relatives. She had been having a good time too, though they missed each other a lot.

Mrs. Weasley's children, with the exception of Percy, would play 4-on-4 quidditch with Harry and Eli. It was during these times that Harry felt free; he was to have fun until he wanted, free from all the worries of Voldemort even just for a fleeting moment.

Eating with the Weasleys, his parents, and the Order had been the most amusing thing he had experienced. Ron and Hermione would occasionally debate about random things, and even silly things. And much to Harry's suspicion, Eli was often found sitting in a corner, contemplating about things Harry knew naught.

Eli sat in the corner, consulting his thoughts once more. He tried recounting the events of the fateful days centuries ago. They were so much familiar to what was happening today. The only difference was that he circumstances were he was now along with his brother's descendant, not his brother himself…

_oFlashBacko_

_It was the day before the great battle, things had been very tight in Esthaar. The tides were utterly dark. Deurgars, drows, and creatures of the unthinkable roam freely in the lands, wrecking havoc as they wish. Eli walks, seeks solace in the magnificent courtyard of the haven's palace. The trees still stood tall and proudly in their places with their green leaves. He prayed that these things would never change, and that the onslaught that was opposing them would be soon ceased._

_As he roamed, he saw Octaviuss, the herald of Nofindo, the great ruler of all dragoons. He looked distressed, worried of things. Of course there is a lot to worry nowadays. He was looking up to the sky waiting for something. Just then, something magnificent soared above the palace, a creature of great wonders. A dragon, a creature, older than any other creature, wiser than any other being, and fiercer than any other beast. But something was more intriguing with this particular dragon. Its color captivated Eli's eyes, or even anyone's eyes. It was a golden dragon. Golden dragons were of ancient myth; it was said to be the fairest, and wisest upon all the dragons. It was said to be created along with Glaurung, the great black dragon that was known as "the Patriarch" of all dragons. Eli knew that dragons were neutral, yet, he was glad that they chose to side with them during these troubled times._

_As the dragon landed elegantly before Octavius, a strange grim smile crept upon the great beast's features. Then it spoke "We have news of ill fate," it said. Eli approached Octavius and his dragon to hear more of it's tale._

"_Tell me, Breggor. Then I shall inform our king," Ronus said._

"_A being of your kind has done the unthinkable. He has renounced its bond with his dragon, Feyrbrand, the swift. He was aided by his corruptor, Nassil upon this task. And yet he has done something no other being had been able to do before,"_

"_He invoked…" Ronus started as his voice started to taint with disbelief and shock._

"_He had been successful in invoking the Patriarch, Glaurung. Apparently, Glaurung has joined the evil. Young Wraife should do fine however if he and Klauth manage to step a notch higher if they should meet."_

_A sigh and a shrug came from Octavius' features as his body twinge a bit and chuckled slightly. "Ah yes, young Wraife and the Wyrm of the North. They had been an unbeatable pair. They will be up to it, I can assure you that," "Should there be a problem, you, Elijah, and Senagua should prepare," Ronus turned to the azure-eyed dragoon who stood firm and determined. This battle was going to be Eli's fist participation on an open war._

"_Count on us, my lord," he said. Eli had been successful a few years ago during his training under the watchful eye of his elder brother, to summon, Senagua, the blue dragon. The Lord of the Waters._

_oEnd of Flashbacko_

Harry studied Eli in a perplexed manner. Sooner or later he would be able to hear everything from Eli. All the secrets that he knew naught of. He had 2 options in his mind; one was to wait till that fateful day, the other was to interrogate Eli on the spot.

He went for the on the spot interrogation.

"You're hiding something," he said with his arms folded in front of his chest with his brows furrowed. Eli chuckled a bit upon seeing Harry like this.

"I had been consulting the past for some things that unsettled my mind," Eli explained with a smile as Harry sat in a couch in front of Eli and beside the fire.

"We have to introduce you to your dragon," he said

"But- I thought that we have to invoke it first?"

"That was the traditional way. But since we are on a hurry, we have to use the other conventional method," he said with a sly grin.

"Which is?" Harry asked still looking utterly confused as Eli tried to point out something.

"Do you mind if I take you somewhere to visit an old friend I encountered once?" Harry froze stiff as he heard Eli say that. His hairs went up as the thought came stingingly clear.

"You've met my dragon, haven't you?" Harry asked as a dawn of realization came to him.

"I was hoping he was. Well, we wouldn't know that yet, right? You two are so much a like. He was very cryptic like you. And his eyes kept on showing off its mysteriousness," Eli said as he stood up and changed into his dragoon battle armor. Though it was a bit different; it was still blue, but this time there were spikes in his shoulder caps and that his blue robes was now a body-fit chain shirt. His gauntlets were now pure silver with linings of royal blue as his armor looked much more magnificent with its color now blue and contoured in to different shades with its linings. His thighs were also covered with body fit chain pants and his mythril boots were now blue like his armor. "This, is the real dragoon battle armor. The one we used were just formal dragoon armor and for the one's who haven't made their bond with dragons official yet," Eli explained as Harry gawked in envy with Eli's battle armor.

"Change into your armor. You'll need it," he said with a smirk as Harry obeyed.

"Shall we get going then? We have a ride to catch up in the skies," Eli led a confused Harry to the Black Mansion's gardens as they took off from the ground and soared to the skies. Harry's questions were answered as he saw a fierce looking blue dragon flying towards them.

"It has been a while, Elijah," the dragon said as Eli and Harry mounted in its spine. "Yes it has been, old friend. This is Harry Potter, Senagua. Take us to Urza's cave," Eli said as he patted the dragon's scales gently.


	15. Urza, the Great Silver Dragon

**Chapter 15: Urza, the Great Silver Dragon**

Harry and Eli journeyed through the skies with the help of Senagua, Eli's blue dragon. Apparently Eli had an encounter with Harry's dragon during the past which caused Eli to have some suspicions if this was Harry's dragon. It had been a known fact that only the dragoon and the dragon that can say whether they are bound to each other.

Upon a few hours of traveling, they ended in front of an old cave in the middle of a very vast forest. Harry felt a strange sensation run through his features as he stood in front of the cave. Somehow, it had been able to emit such a powerful aura. Mosses were already in its rocky walls as Harry had examined it. Harry wondered yet again, 'How in the blazes did Eli discover this place?'

"Simple answer, Harry. Listen to my story," Eli said as they started venturing the old cave.

_oEli's Recountingo_

_Training to become a dragoon warrior had been very difficult. Wraife had been very strict about the rules and regulations in my training. Everything that has to be practice had been practiced. His words etched at the back of my head as a constant reminder to me as the greatest misconception about warriors "Just because you can wield a sword you can call yourself a warrior. A warrior is diverse and flexible. He must have extensive knowledge with the art of dueling. From the very fundamentals, to the advanced and secrets of fighting, a warrior must be knowledgeable of such. Parrying, lore, spellcraft, concentration, discipline, you all need them to become a formidable adversary. Wielding a blade is one, but surviving a battle without a weapon will be a start. Every fighter must be capable of defending themselves with or without a blade," _

_Wraife had been pushing me to my very limits as a warrior whenever we trained. I had been able to survive all of his grueling training for the past years. Now, Wraife had a special test set for me. If I passed this, I would be able to join the ranks of the imperial army and become one of the commanding officers under Wraife's command. His test was a test for all the abilities that I had been able to hone during the times that he has trained me. I was set out on a very vast forest with lots and lots of various creatures and beasts roaming freely. Some of them needed special spells and methods to be eliminated and some of them needed to be fought with bare hands only. _

_As I ventured my way to the depths of the forest, I found myself lingering in a strange cave. It emanated a very strange, powerful aura that made me feel strangely at ease and at peace. I ventured deeper and I beheld the sight of a silver dragon resting in its perch. It looked very ferocious. The dragon was surrounded with tons and tons of gold and other ancient artifacts and treasures. Just then as I came closer, the dragon's eyes flickered open._

_oEnd of Flashbacko_

As Eli and his dragon along with Harry had stopped, a silver dragon had appeared before them. It was a bit larger than Eli's blue dragon and was more intimidating. It was aware of their presence as it somehow grinned at the sight of them.

"It has been a long time, Senagua. It seems that you have brought Elijah with you," the silver dragon greeted. "Ah, this is interesting. Your other companion… You look vaguely familiar,"

"His name is Harry Potter, Urza. I think I have a feeling that he is your link," Eli started.

Harry stood perplexed with the dialogue that Eli and the silver dragon had engaged. _'This is weird. I'm standing in front of a millennia-old silver dragon that Eli claims to be the dragon I'm bound to. I think I've seen this dragon in my dreams when I was a toddler before. But, all of these are starting to get more and more bizarre by the moment,'_ he analyzed as Eli continued to discuss his case to the great silver dragon.

"It had been known to the laws of dragoons and dragons that to know your bond, you and your pair share some traits. Attitude, mannerisms- anything. I thought that because of the manner you converse with other beings like Harry, I thought that that might be the link towards the both you two,"

"Very well said, young one. Alas, only the dragon and the dragoon involved can tell whether they are a pair or nay. Truly it is a shame that Drake is not with us. That war took its toll with us," Urza said as what appeared like a shrug came from the mythical creature's features followed by a beastly sigh.

"Indeed, my old friend. Drake, the first of us to share his heart to another being; his legacy continued up to this very moment. He would've been very proud to have witnessed this if he was alive," Senagua commented as his head nodded.

"Very well, we shall she if you are indeed my pair," Urza began as he rose from his perch and crept near the three. "release your aura," he commanded.

Harry took a glance towards Eli who gave him a nod that would have meant for him to follow the dragon's orders. "Releasing one's aura is a tricky feat. One's concentration and patience shall be put to the test," the dragon examined as Harry began to enter a state of reverie. "you must be at peace with your mind if you decide to release your aura," "However, with the presence of a dragoon's pair, both will be working on together as one bound to the other, giving off a great amount of chi…-" the dragon stopped his lecture as Harry suddenly released bright rays of light from his body. As if on cue, the dragon gave put an unearthly roar it as well gave out the same amount of rays of light.

"It appears that your presumptions were indeed correct, young rider," Senagua commented a smirking Eli as they watched the pair release an incredible amount of chi.

As the light ebbed, Harry's appearance had drastically changed. His emerald orbs were glimmering much stronger, making it possible to give off a more charismatic and piercing gaze. His built looked much better as his once skinny form took shape of a lean, well-toned body. His formal dragoon clothing had changed as well to a gothic looking armor, it looked somewhat antediluvian yet it stood out from all other kinds of design due to its somewhat forgotten façade. The armor's shoulder guards that were now mainly tinted in red with a few linings of silver on its sides, extended out a little from the shoulder as it bent down to its tip while it extended out. On top of his left shoulder guard were 7inch-long thin iron spikes that were bound to their tips by an arched metal bar. On his right, his shoulder guard clipped a long deep red cape that went down to his ankles and covered his entire right arm, front and back. Its arms were covered with silver dominated mythril chain shirt as that bore red tinted designs of ancient scripts. His gauntlets were mainly red as their sides were lined with silver colored inscriptions. The torso contained thin gothic flared designs colored red as it was dominated by silver. The thigh guards were dominated with silver as well with some touches of red and some golden inscriptions. His thighs were also wrapped with chain protectors as he wore knee-high mythril boots that was of pure silver tint. What surprised Harry the most were his wings, which were now two pairs as one pair was on top of the other. The one closest to Harry, which he assumed to be his old wings grew bigger as it extended a few inches from his head and went down to his knees. The other pair, which could be seen properly if you look at Harry from behind, was fairly big but obviously smaller than the other as it only went as high as Harry's head and only down to Harry's thighs. The frame of the wings were now of silver with some rubies on its joints. Its supposed "feathers" were tightly compressed fairy dusts that left glimmering dusts on its ends elegantly.

"Impressive," Urza commented as he examined Harry who was amazed with appreciation.

"I envy you Harry, I only know three people with that kind of suit!" Eli exclaimed as he came over to Harry and patted him on the back. Harry was in awe and amazement when he examined himself. Somehow, he felt much stronger, tougher, faster, and wiser.

"That is because his dragon pair is a prime dragon," Senagua explained as he also seemed to be studying Harry's form and gazing occasionally to Urza.

"Yes, I almost forgot!" Eli said with delight as he continued to hover around Harry, examining him carefully. "Breggor, Urza, and Drake, who are golden, silver, and copper dragons, are prime dragons," Eli explained as Harry gave him a confounded look.

"You are missing something, blue rider," Harry's dragon started. "Black dragons are prime dragons too. In fact, the very first dragon was of their kin," he added.

"Ah, yes, the almighty Patriarch. It was a pity he chose to side with the betrayer during those times," Senagua said.

"Though he did the unthinkable, Glaurung only did such to complete the balance," Urza protested. It was true, with the whole of the dragons amassing under one banner; the enemy would not stand a chance even if they were ahead with numbers. Although it was taboo for a dragon to side with wyverns, Glaurung had to do the unthinkable, which was yet also the inevitable. Although it was quite absurd to be siding with evil and shunning immediate carte blanche for all those who wish well upon the lands, balance must be retained.

"His sacrifice is about to be in vain if that wizard fulfill his goals," Urza commented as Harry noticed the tone of disgust sapping out of his words. "None the less, that wizard that calls himself Voldemort shall take his toll. But I sense great turmoil ahead before such happens," the silver dragon continued.

Harry began to ponder in his thoughts once more. _'Turmoil? What could be worse than what's happening right now? Cho's and Hermione's parents are dead. A lot of innocent lives had been ruined along the way. What could be worse than this? The whole of Europe was starting to crumble down to dust. The muggles are in deep chaos right now,'_ Trying to get some troubling thoughts out of his mind, he examined himself once more. He noticed that something was missing in his battle gear. Something that used to come along his transformation did not. It was the sword of Godric Gryffindor.

"I see that you've finally noticed the loss of your beloved weapon," Urza interrupted as he focused his stare towards Harry. "Where is it?" Harry asked as he searched the cave for any signs of the sword of his ancestor. "You will not be needing it, young one. That sword was Godric's, and will always remain his. That's how enchanted weapons are, one's they have their master, they will remain loyal to their master as even if they pass away. That's what makes the balance for their magical abilities," the dragon explained.

'It's all fitting in place,' Harry thought. Harry had been troubling himself for some time on how to unlock the powers the sword possessed. It so appears that enchanted weapons only work effectively under the hands of their masters, who would be the ones to have wielded them first.

"Then, what am I going to use?" Harry asked as he looked up to the dragon. "This," that was all the dragon said as it moved aside, revealing an old, elegant treasure coffer. The dragon gestured Harry to go forth and opened it. "I had kept it ever since those kind dwarves and elves had forged this for me," the dragon commented as Harry began to open the box. The box contained a sheathed rapier. Although it appeared longer than a normal rapier; it was as long as a longsword, yet it still possessed the other characteristics a rapier had. As Harry took hold of it, he was surprised as to how light the sword was. When he drew the sword, his amazement grew more.

"Ah, the fire of the 9 hells; Hell's Bane!" Eli exclaimed. The blade of Harry's sword was raging with fire as its hilt remained cool. "That sword can only be held by its master. If anyone should try and wield it, their hands will be burnt up to no avail," the dragon warned Harry as he raised the sword in front of him. The upper portion of the hilt had a unique elegant design crusted with a red ruby in the middle. The handle, looked like a saber's handle as it had a protector same as normal sabers do.

"That sword had been rumored for years! Many have doubted its existence due to lack of proof!" Eli exclaimed with excitement as Harry sheathed the blade back.

"Well," Urza interrupted. "As much as I don't want to interrupt your celebrations, I think my young rider and I should do some flying, don't you think?" he commented as he looked at Harry with his heavily piercing orbs.

As the four of the set out outside the cavern, Harry felt free as if he it was the first time after a long time that Harry flew in the skies. His feelings and emotions were connected to the dragon's as well. Since they shared one heart, they share all the emotions that's raging in them. But would that be any good for Harry?

_oThe Riddle Houseo_

Voldemort sat once more with his so called council as drows, duergars, and other beings were present in his war room. He sat in the middle of one corner in the room, studying the faces of the beings before him. Then, Nassil, the drow king had come forth.

"Tell me Nassil, how does our plan work?" the dark lord asked as he shifted from his seat. He studied the dark elf's features. If not only for their color, they would easily look like a normal high elf.

"As you see my lord, dragoons seem to be the perfect being," Voldemort was about to nod grudgingly as he was reminded of his previous futile attempts in capturing Harry.

"They're not,"

A very malicious smile crept in the dark lord's serpent-like features. The thought of Harry suffering genuinely to the point of him going insane beyond Voldemort's dreams was certainly a pleasing thought. Well, for Voldemort and his companions it was.

"Emotion- it is what empowers a dragoon. Love, hate, joy, anger, humility, envy… but it is also what brings them down," Nassil began spitefully as he paced around the halls of the room while holding an apple; tossing it from time to time.

"Dragoons tap into their emotions and proliferates their senses for feelings to their very limits. Like a barely tamed beast, at the first sign of their true master's disappearance, they go feral. They wreck anything that crosses their paths, or if we are lucky, turn them into contrary of what they once were,"

"Hmm, interesting. Very well then, how do you propose we commence with this then?" Voldemort rose from his throne and approached a window near his throne and gaze up upon the canopy of glittering lights.

"We hit Potter's strongest point, which can only mean as his weak spot. And since his strongest point is his friends and love ones. We torment him by taking his precious," the drow grin evilly as he took a bite of the apple he's holding.

"Isn't that too cliché? I was thinking that since our young Potter's already grown up and now that he has his sweetheart," Voldemort emphasized with disgust as he snorted "why don't we give him a genuine, and agonizing torture,"

"Ah, that little witch, Chang. Isn't she also the one with that wizard you murdered? Diggory was his name if my memory serves," Nassil mocked a face that portrayed himself as though he was trapped in curiosity.

"I can see what you're pointing at. And I think I like it a lot. But, can you do that?" the dark lord questioned the fallen elf.

"Never doubt the art of the dark, my lord. As long as the will is imminent, there will always be a way for things to commence," something dark is within the midst for Harry. Something that would surely tear him apart if nothing could be done to prevent so. But, nobody else knew, who is there to stop this?

_oMeanwhileo_

The onslaught of Voldemort's forces continue to march through the streets of Great Britain and in England. Soon enough, the whole Europe will be thrown in complete disarray. Though many had been able to stand against the imposing assailants, lives of innocent people were at cost. Muggles were simply outclassed by Death Eaters who knew countless dark magic and ways.

Albus Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix was deployed into action at once as they had been able to settle thing with their families during the holidays. Their hopes are mainly rested upon the shoulders of a certain 16-year old; who by the words of Sybil Trelawney would the one to bring peace and quieter days for all with the dark lord's complete fall. That is- if he should succeed.

Since the reforming of the millennia-old allegiances of different races, the battle of recent had been a bit more equally fought. Elves, dwarves, dragons, muggles, wizard folk and the like stand under one banner as they fought the offensive of their foes. Many forgotten crafts were once more revealed and used against the forces of the dark lord. With the technology of the muggles, and the lore of magic folk, and other races, they have been successful in procuring new artifacts to aid them in their cause to hold off their enemies.

Remus and James teamed up together as they led one of the largest platoons in the field, constantly raiding the cities that the Death Eaters have captured. With the help of elves, and dwarves, they have been successful in reclaiming some of the countless cities under Voldemort's rule.

"Moony, take your men around and flank them from behind. Make sure they don't notice you approach. There will be dementors once more, advice them to prepare to cast there Patronuses," James whispered to Remus as they camped near a garrisoned wizard camp.

"Alright. When we are in position, we'll inform you. Make sure you don't do anything rash!" Remus reminded James. James had always been very much of a risk taker during their days in Hogwarts. Those were the fond memories that he and the rest of the Marauders share until today. Both of them terribly missed their companions, who one, has fallen in a glorious battle in the veil in the Department of Mysteries, while the other, had corrupted himself to the dark side. Rest assure, the two shall in time, find it somewhere in their hearts to seek redemption for their betrayer.

Remus' party had moved out and sneaked their way behind their enemies. Remus' party consisted of 12 elves; 4 foot soldiers 8 archers, 10 dwarves, and 15 muggle and wizards combined. James' party was of 16 elves- all archers, 14 dwarves, and 5 muggles and 5 wizards.

"Something's not right," an elf said as he looked around the premises and scanned the area for scouts. "Here! Unfamiliar tracks!" hissed a muggle soldier as he pointed on a portion of land that looked like it sported fresh footmarks of a man.

"We never went there," James said cautiously.

"AMBUSH!"

They were outnumbered; almost twice their size, the ambush party was. All of them hidden by some sort of invisibility spell. Drow raiders, deurgars, Death Eaters and some corrupted muggles dashed towards them weapons and wands aimed towards them.

Within a second, arrows and spells were seen in mid-air. Sounds of gunfire, and metal clashing against metal can be heard. Pained groans can also be heard trough the vicious hacking and slashing.

"HOLD YOUR LINE! KEEP ON FIRING! DO NOT LET THEM PENETRATE!" James ordered the elven archers as the kept on firing flame arrows skyward and eventually landing down on enemy lines. The dwarves and men formed ranks to block the enemy militia's view of the archers. As their first line made contact, some had already fallen to the ground, severely wounded or dead. Swords and axes were drawn. The smell of gunpowder wrecked the battlefield. Soldiers kept their open fire as long as their foes stood. But they're efforts were in vain. Only a few of their enemies had taken their bullets. A lot of them had something in them that protected them from such bullets.

"Damn those magical protections!"

Remus heard the sounds of battle from James location as they moved into place. The camped foes had already started to make their way there. Dementors were closing in as well. _'That sure can't be good. Lily and Harry will surely kill me if something happens to Prongs!'_

"CHARGE!"

Rash decisions often come from the wisest people. Overlooking situations were common in a battle. In this case, Remus acted late.

The feeling of despair soon clouded the battlefield's atmosphere. Soon, the camped forces were within striking distance.

"Dementors," James snarled as he caught sight of tall dark hooded figures behind the ranks of his enemies. Dementors proved to be a wild card in Voldemort's cause. Not only did they hollowed the joy in the minds and hearts of the dark lord's enemies, they did the same also for the dark lord's forces. Throwing them into utter despair and disarray. Fortunately for Voldemort, some of his death eaters were sinister enough to become immune to the vile creature's stint. Lucius Malfoy stood in front of the enemy's ranks.

"Get Potter! Then we leave!"

As soon as Remus reached James' party, the Death Eaters had already apparated away from the battlefield. The battle was still raging within the midst. It was a losing battle. Yet there was still hope.

"Call for reinforcements! NOW!" he called out to the muggle dispatch in his party as he radioed their situation to higher authorities.

_oBlack Mansiono_

Harry and Eli had already returned from their journey to Urza's cavern. Harry's achievement was still kept from everyone else as secrecy was still to be enforced. When Harry learnt about the raid that Professor Lupin and his dad went to, he knew something was wrong.

The message the muggle military dispatch conveyed had confirmed his worst fears.

"The raiding party was ambushed. There were captives. They are still fighting at the moment and are calling for back up. They say-" a panting Professor Snape informed an alarmed Professor Dumbledore as Harry rushed out of the room.

"POTTER!" Professor Snape called out as Professor Dumbledore sat in his chair. Contemplating once more on what has to be done. Right now, he knew Harry wouldn't hear what his mind has to speak or even to heed whatever advice he has to say. The last time Harry took heed of his advice, his godfather died. He knew this time it was out of his reach.

Harry stormed out of the room, looking more furious than he has ever been. He went down to the living room to see Ron, Hermione, Draco, Eli and Julio sitting in the couches.

"Julio! Eli! Raiding party's been ambush. They call for help." Julio nodded immediately as he stood up and made his way to the front door. Eli however tried to squeeze more info out.

"Wait a sec! that was quite a large group for a raiding party. They've been outnumbered?!" Eli asked looking outraged.

"Look, I don't care! Lupin and dad's in that group! They said the bastards have taken some in captive! And I'm going to make sure Lupin and dad aren't one of them!"

Harry stormed out of the room leaving the others with perplexed and worried faces. Eli shrugged and left the room as well. The others tried to follow but they heard Harry's voice from outside yelling, "Don't you dare follow! Stay here and wait for our return!" oh he's going to hear it from them later alright.

oSomewhereo

The battle was still raging on. Surprisingly, the raiding party had been successful in holding the enemy off. Remus' party had soon joined the weakened party of James.

"Prongs!" Remus called out- no sign of him. This wasn't good. Just then, the dementors started to approach.

"Expecto Patronum!"

A big silver wolf formed from a silvery cloud as it galloped towards the dementors, who in turn were left unaffected by Lupin's Patronus attack.

"Not good. Not at all," he said disbelievingly, not wanting to take his eyes away from the sight while shaking his head. Just then, red, blue, and silver jet streams of light came searing in the air. With a loud bang accompanied by the loud, pained shrieks of the dementors, three familiar looking figures came into view. The whole fighting stopped as they saw these intimidating figures before them. Three angry beasts as the deurgars put it. Lupin immediately recognized one of the three; messy black hair, green eyes, and a scar.

"HARRY!"

With a blink of an eye, the three disappeared in the middle of the fight. Enemies started falling down- dead. The battle continued as the match seemed more than even-footed.

Harry used different chains of combinations in attacking multiple enemies. The katta that Julio has taught him had been very effective as he performed a series of x-like slashes accompanied by a great cleave in the end. Turning, he prepared for an overhead strike to hit the enemy from the head downwards. He also used variations such as doing a hastened version of the 12 basic strikes which consisted of strikes to the temples, shoulders, chest, stomach, knees, eyes and the head. One strike for each enemy.

Julio, being the master that he is in wielding exotic weapons such as his kriss, used advanced and very technical methods to slay his enemies. Like Eli, his prowess in fighting was quite overwhelming. Occasionally casting spells and conjuring objects, he had his fair share of killing enemies under his blade.

Eli had yet again slaughtered an awful lot of enemies under his account. Even though Julio was the dragoon weapons master, his techniques were the most conventional and unique, also the most effective. Strike, spells, parry, spell strike, summon. Series after series, Eli made his foes drop down- dead.

Soon the losing battle was won. By a big upset.

As Harry immediately searched the premises for any signs of his father, he saw Lupin, who looked terribly tired, and grim. At the moment that their eyes met, Lupin shook his head and looked down to the ground.

Harry tried to suppress his anger. He felt like shouting; exploding with anger and frustration. Urza was right, something worse was yet to come.

"This can't be happening,"


	16. And So It Begins

**_Chapter 16: And So It Begins_**

Harry's enraged roar could be heard miles away from the battlefield. Mixed emotions were running through his head. Realization was rapidly dawning on him. The real dark days are yet to come. The ones that they've managed to get through were but just a taste of what they'd suffer on the days to come. Intense compressed emotions ran through his head by the moment. Anger, worry, pity, pain- all of them were swirling in a giant whirlpool that was about to destroy Harry's world.

"Harry, calm yourself, we can still get Prongs back. Lets get back to the Grimauld Place and consult Dumbledore on this," Remus reasoned out as he put an arm on Harry's shoulder. Eli just sighed and shrugged as he saw the situation as Julio lowered his head.

"Dumbledore?! The last time I put my faith in that old man Sirius died! Now, you ask me to put my faith once more under HIS hands?!" Remus was about to interrupt him to reason out but was overpowered by Harry as he shoved Remus' arm away from his shoulder. "No, Moony, I don't think so!" with that said, Harry lunged and tore upwards almost dividing the skies with his tremendous speed.

"This isn't good," Remus said shaking his head, his face with worry written all over it. "Not good at all," Eli added as Remus raised a brow towards Eli who looked a bit more horrified.

Upon seeing Remus' questioning look, Eli made a gesture, "Come, I'll explain everything when we get back," with that, the remnants of Remus' and James' dispatch dispersed back to their own camps as Remus apparated away while the two remaining dragoons flew back to the Black Mansion.

_oThe Black Mansiono_

Harry was the first one to be back in the house. As he entered, horrified and furious faces had welcomed him. He couldn't care less. He had much more important things to worry.

"Harry James-" Hermione started as she started to fume away all her boiled up anger when Harry immediately silenced him with a hand.

"Save it, Hermione. I've had enough for the day," he said calm as he could as he stormed upstairs to his room leaving a very loud bang. Hermione let out a big shout of frustration as Ron just shook his head in resign. "same old Harry," he muttered as Eli and the rest came in.

"Don't be too hard on him. He lost his father again." Eli had explained to everyone what had just happened as realization came to them on what had just been happening to Harry. Hermione could feel the guilt rise up to her. She too has lost her parents. But lose them once more after a second chance would be much more agonizing.

"I think Voldemort is up to something. I'm betting that he'd keep Mr. Potter alive since he doesn't really need him that much anymore," Julio conjectured as Eli had finished telling the news. "he's planning to ruin Harry using his own emotions to make him go berserk. True, Harry has the potential to beat Voldemort without breaking a sweat with the proper guidance. But, he can also destroy himself with a snap of a finger,"

"How?" Ron asked, shocked as he heard the news. Remus' eyes widened a bit as he heard so. Closing his eyes as he shook his head, he turned back to Julio to head the explanation.

"Dragoons, are beings driven by emotions. Our emotional barrier can be represented as a thin thread. There is a thin borderline between maximizing our emotional capability to become ultimately strong and overdoing yourself and go berserk beyond anyone's control. Anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, pity- they all play a big role in a dragoon's fall. If Harry does not manage to bear with the situation, he'll most probably go mad, and berserk. The worst that could have him is to be manipulated by that blasted drow like he did once to Brax!" Julio said as he almost snapped in anger as he recalled the days when Brax turned and broke ties with his race.

"True, but I think there's someone who can help-" Hermione said as Tonks rushed in the room looking genuinely horrified.

"There's been another raid! The whole scouting party's been annihilated! We still don't know if Voldemort kept some as captives!" she said as she panted heavily.

Remus smacked his forehead with his palm in anger and frustration. It was happening, alright. It was the start of the chaos that was to come. He was sure of some things that have yet to happen. It will be a rough journey for all of them. He could only hope for all to survive this.

"Please tell me Lily wasn't there." Remus said as he looked at Tonks with hope in his eyes. Tonks returned his glance with a pleading look "You're not making it any easier for me," she said as she frowned. Much to Remus' utter despair. "If you think that I'm making things harder for you, then I think you should go before Harry sees you," he warned as he stopped himself as soon as he heard noises from upstairs.

""Why so?" came Harry's voice as he came down looking curiously at Remus then to Tonks who seemed to be about to break into tears. "I-…I'm… so… I'm so sorry, Harry! There was nothing we could do!!!" she shouted as she burst in tears, collapsing on the floor as Remus rushed to her side and said soothing words to her.

Harry was left dumbfounded for a fleeting moment as his head went in another endless debate. Then, he realized what was happening. "Mum," he whispered in fear and shock as the facts overwhelmed him.

"NO!!!!"

_oRiddle Mansiono_

"It has begun, my lord,"

"Yes, I can see that. You have proven most useful, Nassil. You had been the only one to had been successful in bringing the parent of the4 wretched boy alive. Of course, not that I wanted them that way!" he mocked as he laughed sinisterly as Lily and James were brought to him, shackled and worn out with wounds.

"Ah, the ONCE perfect couple! I never thought I'd see you again!" the dark lord said as evil delight spread through his features.

_oThe Next Day at the Black Mansiono_

Sleeping had been very difficult since the breaking news came to the walls of 12 Grimauld Place. Smiles were a rare sight last night as all of its inhabitants were sullen faces. The most prominent of them all was Harry, who was more than sullen. Anger, hate and suffering was consuming him. Everyone could see that. He had barely gotten sleep when it was time to wake up and prepare for their journey back to Hogwarts. Their breakfast was awfully silent. Nobody said anything until they were already at King's Cross. All of them felt the sorrow Harry's been feeling as he lost his parents for the second time in a row.

As they made their way to the compartment, they settled themselves in a seat as they tried to manage a decent conversation to abuse. Draco sat awkwardly between them. Not knowing what to say, he kept silent and read a book that Hermione had given to him for Christmas.

Soon enough, Cho joined them who seemed perplexed to see them all crest fallen. Harry was asleep on the side with his head resting oh the wall near the window as Cho sat beside him. Ron, Hermione, and Draco filled her in with the details as her face grew sullen too as she heard of Harry's outraged actions. Seeing Harry suffering that much pained her the most. She knew he had been through a lot. And she had to help him get through this.

"I think it's better if we let him sleep. He's had a hard time sleeping last night. When I slept, he was wide awake and sitting on the chair in our room. When I woke up, he was still in the exact same position!" Ron whispered miserably as he looked as Harry with worry and pity. He always knew that Harry never liked to be pitied, much less to see his friends worrying an awful lot about him. Cho merely nodded as she sighed deeply and rested her head on Harry's shoulders to join him in his sleep.

On the other compartment, Eli, Remus and Julio were meeting in secret, planning a way to prevent Harry from turning, much more not to go mad.

"With the things going on, this seems impossible…" Julio looked down on the floor while shaking his head. Harry was the key to their victory if they were to win this war against Voldemort. He was the only person who could stop Voldemort and his rampage. And if Harry breaks loose, all is lost.

"There are a few things we need to do. But that'd mean interrupting Harry's personal life. I know it sounds silly since that is impossible, yet, we can't be too sure," Remus started as Eli recognized what he was pointing at and decided to protest.

"Leave Harry's life with Cho out of this, please. She's the only one Harry can confide right now. The last thing we need is making Harry and Cho have a row about this. You know how easily both those two can get upset!" Eli pleaded as he almost stood up from his seat leaving Julio and Remus with surprised faces. Remus was the first one to recover as he smiled when he saw the look on Eli's face.

"Alright. I think you're right. Their tempers are worse than Lily and James' whenever they went on a row," Remus sighed as he remembered one of Lily and James' classic disputes. "I just hope we rescue them before its too late"

_oThe Riddle Houseo_

"How fares our plan?" the dark lord asked as he stood amongst the shadows, his figures cloaked inside the darkness.

"It is going as planned. All we need to do is apply the finishing touches," Nassil replied with his trademark grin embossed in his face.

"Oh. Him,"

"We need to do something with him though. To make sure our plan doesn't fail," the drow said as he paced the chambers of his master.

"Yes, I agree. I shall appoint my death eaters to do that job for us,"

Voldemort's plan was now in play. The pieces are now moving accordingly to their will. They have started bending their enemy's fates in their fingers. The others would have to act fast if something can still be done to stop the plan the dark lord has in store for all of them. But the others knew naught of all these evil conspiracy.

_oHogwartso_

Soon enough, the students had already come back from their holiday vacations. The Hogwarts express had already unloaded its final set of passengers as the students made their way to the castle.

Harry, Cho, Hermione, and Ron sat in one carriage as the others separated. The four seemed painfully aware of the things that had just come to pass. Words have to be picked carefully and with the proper discretion. For a while, they had digressed over the topics concerning the quidditch cup as Hermione tried hard to listen intently in their conversations. Soon enough, she gave up and grabbed a book to read. Harry had already joined in the quidditch talk as possible strategies and predictions of the upcoming cup's results were being argued by the three.

"You think Hufflepuff will be in for it this year?" Ron asked.

"They seem to be alright. They managed to put up a good fight when we played them," Cho offered as Harry still sat thinking for a good comment.

"Well, their seeker's good. He can do a little bit more training to really fill up Cedric's place," Cho's face seemed to fall a bit when he mentioned Cedric's name. Somehow, she can still feel his presence; lingering wherever she's around. _'Get a grip on yourself! You're with Harry now! What in Merlin's name are you thinking!'_ Ron seemed to have noticed the look on her face as he changed the topic to save Cho from suffering more in this topic.

"So, how's China?" Harry asked casually.

"It was fine. I gained rights over my parent's belongings. My relatives who live near London will be taking care of me,"

"That's good to hear. It's a good thing to have nice relatives" Harry commented as he recalled the rude treatment his relatives game him for the last 15 years. Cho merely smiled at him, not knowing what to say at his comment.

"So," Harry started in hopes of changing the topic "what are your plans? After graduating I mean,"

"I'm thinking of joining the Order. Fred and George told me a lot about it," this comment amused Harry and at the same time made him worry. Cho saw his face and took the cue to say something different. "I'm also thinking of being an apprentice for either Flitwick or McGonagall. I think I'd keep my eyes peeled for some people over here who has drooling fans," she cast a look at Harry who returned her look with an innocent, questioning face.

"Right, Harry. Pretend," Ron teased as he howled with laughter. Harry then felt a familiar dousing sensation wrapping his head. His scar was burning hard once more. This time, it felt much more intense. Harry bawled exceptionally loud, falling from his seat kneeling while both his hands clutched his scar. Ron immediately ran outside to call for help as Cho and Hermione went to Harry's side. The pain was getting much too uncontrollable. Emotions engulfed him once more as voices came into his head.

'_I have your beloved parents, Potter,' _a hissing voice said in his mind.

"NO!!!" Harry roared as he suddenly changed into his dragoon battle gear. His emotions seemed to have amalgamated together, forming a condensed abstract ball of anger. Harry was shuddering uncontrollably as his body started fuming up as if it was on fire.

"_Join me, or you'll lose more," _

"NEVER!!!"

"You shall suffer the consequences of your doing," the hissing voice said as it laughed forebodingly. The pain in Harry's scar got more intense as if the previous level wasn't intense at all. The seizures in Harry's body were more uncontrollable; his body broke in agonizing spasms. Remus, Eli and Julio came rushing in to the compartment as soon as word reached them.

"Harry, try blocking you're thoughts. Empty your mind" Eli said in a calm tone. Harry couldn't actually hear him. The pain wrecking his body was painful beyond verbal description, he couldn't see or hear properly as he continued to groan. And after a few more excruciating moments, the pain stops with a snap.

Harry's painfully exhausted body slumped flat on the carriage's floor. Cho was panicking, so was Hermione. Ron stood agape beside Eli as he saw Harry's motionless body.

"He's a victim of a mentally cast Cruciatus Curse," Julio explained as he examined Harry's body when he put his right hand over Harry's head.

"Voldemort's taking advantage of Harry's weakness. Emotional Overload is taking its toll on Harry. If this continues, we'll lose him. Or even worse- he joins Voldemort,"

"He'd never do that!" Hermione tried to reassure herself as the thought urged unto her. With Harry gone, Voldemort's long term plans will push through without any proper opposition.

After a few moments, the train had finally stopped and they were back at Hogwarts. Harry was immediately sent to the Hospital Wing as he remained unconscious through out the trip.

_oSomewhereo_

"Keep the lines straight, you maggots!!!" a commanding voice howled from the skies. The voice belonged to Nassil, the drow king and the dark lord's ally. His army continued pillaging muggle cities. Muggle military continued on pushing on with their offensive as Nassil's army continued to march all over England.

"Half of the city's ours!" McNair roared from below as he ordered a platoon of Death Eaters to roam the areas for survivors.

"Excellent, the dark lord will be pleased with the news. Now, proceed with the plan."

A carriage appeared behind the ranks of the army. Its horses looked menacing and evil; their eyes showed the corruption that's been put on them with their blood filled eye pupils. Soon, the carriage's door swung open, and a hooded figure appeared from it.

"Release the body here. As soon as we leave, wake him up," the hooded figure did what look like an acknowledging nod as he set a limp body of a teenager that was somewhere near 19 years old by age. He was breathing, but looked soundlessly dozed.

"We have a survivor!"

Rescue wizards rush to the rubbles of the fallen city as they finished rounding up the check for survivors of the Death Eater rampage.

"Check him! Is he still alive?" Tonks asked

"Good heavens! It's Diggory!!!"

_oSomewhereo_

"I hope you squeal loud, Potter," Lucius Malfoy sneered as he unwrapped an arsenal of ungodly devices that could be easily identified as a muggle torture kit.

James Potter was crucified on a 17-foot cross with his hands and feet only bound to the wood. He was badly wounded and bruised.

"Oh I certainly do hope you do not know the Russian muggle they call Rasputin," muttered Lucius as he laughed. "Muggle gadgets are interesting, you know,"

TO BE CONTINUED


	17. Unwanted Enlightenment

**_Chapter 17: Unwanted Enlightenment_**

Concentrating- one thing that Harry couldn't make himself do as he plopped back to his chair as he continued to pretend listening to Professor Binns' lectures. A difficult task as he began to slowly doze off and then wake up from the sudden painful blow that Hermione would give his side.

"Would you quit that!" Harry hissed.

"You better pay attention!" she retaliated.

Ron on the other hand had been trying his best as well to stay awake. Most of the time his, left foot was being crushed by Hermione's right foot. True, Professor Binn's subject doesn't really attract the students attention, moreover it bores them till their kingdom come.

"I swear, next year, I will never take this subject again," Ron whined and groaned as they walked out of the classroom. Hermione gave Ron a scowl, restraining herself to hit him with whatever that she was holding. In this case, it was a big, hard-covered book.

"Ronald Weasley, you cannot quit that subject. You cannot, and I will never allow so, to happen!" she snapped as she gave him one last glare before more of the Gryffindor company joined in.

"Hello, boys and girls! Just to remind the two of you," Dean nodded at Ron and Harry. "Fred wants all of us to meet up after supper. Game plans. We'll be dealing against Hufflepuff next week."

"That would also mean that you'd have to think of something else other than free-falling or jumping-off your broom to get the snitch, Harry. Cho will definitely beat the living Merlin out of you for sure!" Harry scratched the tip of his nose a bit. Seamus was right, but he'd never know though until the opportunity presented itself.

What was really worrying Harry was the disappearance of his parents. He lost them once before when he was still a helpless little kid. And from the looks of it, he's about to lose them again if nothing was to be done. He knew they're in mortal peril in that very moment. The feeling of anguish and frustration towards Dumbledore and the rest of the Order flooded his mind again. _"Dumbledore. Tch! The last time I trusted him, I lost my godfather!"_ he whacked the couch in frustration as he collapsed in another.

"Harry,"

Harry's head whirled around to see Hermione standing before the girls dormitory entrance. Being his bestfriend ever since they went to Hogwarts, she had an inkling of what was going on Harry's mind.

"I know what you're feeling right now, Harry. But if you act irrationally, worse things will happen. Sometimes even if it's frustrating to wait, you need to wait and be patient," she went over to a couch nearby Harry as she cuddled herself together. "Give Dumbledore a chance, it really wasn't his fault how the things turned out last year," she pleaded once more. She knew saying this was almost the same as a one-way ticket to damnation. But something was different with Harry now, he seemed more calm and collected about his temper.

"Dumbledore, wasn't there when I needed his help to save Sirius." He countered with a grim tone in his voice.

"You know what, Harry. I'm sorry if this is going to offend you, but I just have to say it. You and Voldemort have a connection through your scar. Has it ever occurred to you that he used that to make you think that Sirius was already dying and needed aid for you to come to the rescue. He knew exactly how you'd react to a situation like that," then it hit him. But he felt more and more frustrated. Not towards Dumbledore, but towards himself. He was caught blindsided with that.

"Haven't thought of that, haven't you?" Hermione offered him a warm friendly smile as she got up and put a hand on his shoulder. "Give it time to settle in. Now, if what I heard was right, you have a meeting to catch,"

The streets of London were awfully quiet. Everything was dead still. The citizens had rushed to safety due to the incoming threat of assailants. Garrisoned within the structures were muggle and wizard soldiers alike. Battle ready for their foes, up in the skies was a platoon of dragoons with their lord himself, Octavius.

"Sometimes it's better to get a preview of what's going to be up against you," he told his men as they watched their enemy's army close in the perimeter. "Alright, as soon as those get near the city center, we attack. We will come from their rear, closing out their nearest exit. Albus' men will be the ones taking care on the other sides. Olwë sent his men too to aid us. Stick close. They won't be able to break through us if we are together!" he ordered his men as they nodded in silent resolute.

The dispatch was nearing the city center as they came from the east side. Spells, arrows and gunfire welcomed them as they returned their favor to their enemies. The heavy infantry of the aurors, elves and muggles charged from within the buldings to clash with the enemies. Just as soon as they did, the deurgar and drow dispatch appeared from within the ranks of death eaters, axes and blades drawn.

The clash was bloody, both sides were scrambled in the streets and both sides flurried each other with their own way of attacks. The dark dispatch was meters away from the city center as they tried to retreat from the rear. Just then balls of flame crashed down on their exit as the dragoons swept towards them. Horns were blown to signal the drows' wyverns to come.

"Hold the line!" one of the muggle army officers growled at his allies as the enemy's desperate offensive marched on. A muggle soldier approached him. It was his communications officer. "Sarge! The first platoon's under heavy fire up front! They request back up!"

"Go tell the elves! We need to hold his place!" the communications officer dashed away for hi dear life as the battle continued to rage.

The wyverns have arrived, the fight suddenly became even. The dragoons were having a hard time maintaining their line as they had to defend themselves from the wyvern offensive. Octavius, who was still observing from above, creased his forehead.

"Time to end this,"

A pair of white orbs materialized from both of Octavius' hands as his eyes went white. The clouds roared as thunder and lightning crashed down on the streets. The fighting down bellow suddenly came to a halt.

"Keep your distance!" the elves called out to their allies as they knew what was about to happen. The orbs on both of Octavius' hands grew bigger and bigger until it was twice the size of his head. He finally threw both of it down to the ground. The orbs came crashing down at a tremendous speed. The wyvern dispatch, now mounted by the drows, fled for their dear life as the balls of inexplicable light crashed down on the ground, releasing a violent shockwave that threw most of the people off-balance. Immediately, the shockwave was followed by a big electrical explosion from the center of the shockwave, killing all enemies in its path.

The smoke finally cleared, revealing the sight of their enemies' faces facing the floor as their bodies lay either unconscious or dead.

"Area secured…" the muggle sergeant muttered in awe as he walked towards the dragoons. Certainly, his life would forever be changed after witnessing what this winged miracles could do.

"Alright boys, here's the thing." Fred and George gathered the team around outside the Great Hall for their quidditch meeting. "As you all know, we'll be up against Hufflepuff next week. We've been scouting their practices for quite some time, and they've been getting stronger and stronger with every practice. Harry, you better watch out for the seeker, he's been pretty fast when reacting to the snitch,"

"Yeah, like he'll need that" Collin snorted with his remark.

"Well, we can't help not worry about this. It's our last year, Fred and I. And, we'd see hell before we see the cup on another house!" the rest of the team cheered upon hearing this. "Practice! Saturday! After breakfast!" groans were heard across the hall.

The fireplace of the office of the headmaster gave a big banging sound as two people entered. Professor Dumbledore was someone who was rarely surprised, this time, he was. And this was something he'd never expect very much. Kingsley Shacklebolt, a very trusted auror, and also one of the key members of the Order of the Phoenix was standing before him. Behind him was someone that surprised the old professor very much. It was none other than the one that the world thought to be dead.

"Good Evening, sir. We are here to seek your help to get this young man back to his feet. As you may very well know, the world knows that Cedric Diggory died in that Tri-wizard tournament a few years back. We found him lying unconscious in the streets of London a couple of days ago. He can't seem to remember what happened before he got there. But he still remembers the 'last moment of his life' before He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named killed him," Shacklebolt explained.

"Troubled times nowadays, indeed." The old professor sighed as he mentally shrugged off the initial shock. "I shall make the necessary arrangements to give him a spot here in Hogwarts. I assume you do not want the whole world to know just yet?" he asked.

"Just the world of Hogwarts," Cedric smiled at the old professor. He was going to get it. The life that he thought he lost that day when him and Harry got warped by the cup-portkey to the Dark Lord's lair. He would make the best of it.

"Very well, we'll see if the Madame Hooch has a free space for an assistant. I shall make the arrangements tomorrow morning to introduce you at breakfast. You are expected to sit in the teacher's table once you are called forth,"

"Thank you sir" he nodded in appreciation to the headmaster's efforts. Kingsley Shacklebot waved his farewell to the both of them and left Hogwarts via floo once more.

"For now, mister Diggory, would you mind if you and I had a chat?" curiosity was killing the old man. _'Whatever happened to this young man'_

Friday evening. Tomorrow was yet another weekend. No classes. Cho decided that she'd come with her room mates and have a little extra-reading for N.E.W.T's before they went out. Something was bothering her. She was feeling something very unusual. Something she felt when someone very close to her was still there. _'Could it be my mum and dad? No… they're gone. Lao? Not him. It's been ages. It can't possibly him. Besides, the feeling different. It's only with- no. that can't be' _Chills ran through her body as the though ran through her head.

"That can't possibly be," she whispered to herself, as she slumped her face on the book she was reading.

"What can't be possible?" a familiar voice asked as she jumped to her feat in surprise. It was Harry.

"Come on. Forget the books right now. You're too stressed." He gave Cho a quick kiss on the lips as he extended a hand which she took with little hesitation.

"Something's been bothering me, Harry," she blurted out of nowhere. She had to get it off, Harry would be someone to understand it, anyway. After all the things he's been through…

"Evidently so, you've been quiet and really lost in thought. Go on, what's it about?" he urged her as he grabbed the books she was carrying.

"Can the dead really be resurrected?" _'Was that really the right question to ask? Of course! Cedric died. It's impossible that he's been alive all this time,' _

"Well, technically, they can't. But there are these special cases where the dead are brought back to life, all thanks to special alternatives. Take my parents for example. They were brought back to life because of Eli, who was a dragoon and was capable of sharing his life force to bring a dead person back to life" the though of his parents made him flinch. He was still doing nothing for it. His face twisted in worry and frustration.

Cho saw the sudden change in Harry. The topic about his parents' disappearance still irked him a lot. She knew the Order and the Ministry would do everything to get them back. It'd be dangerous if Harry got really out of control. It was a big responsibility placed on her shoulders, being the one Harry's always with.

'_I think I better not tell him right now. It would make things more and more complicated,'_ she thought was Harry faced her with a perturbed expression on his face. "Why? What's up with the question?"

"Ravenclaw curiosity," she smiled at him as he let out a laugh.

Somewhere hidden, someone was watching them with jealous eyes. '_How could he do this?! She's mine!' _ the person's prying eyes went wide at the thought of Harry and Cho cuddling together. He felt as if something precious was stolen from him. Something he thought was for him and him alone.

"I'll make sure I get back what's really mine. Just you watch, Potter," he whispered angrily to himself as he disappeared in the darkness.

The sun's rays was really shining through the boys' dormitory. Having unable to stand the brightness anymore, Harry woke up, yawning a bit. Last night had been pleasant. With the exception of some awkward moments caused by fragile topics. He was a bit worried on how much Cho had been studying. Stress she was, and pressure she always was. He also thought this as a way to keep herself busy and not think of the bad events that had taken place. It was then that Harry remembered his promise to her. To find a way to bring back her parents.

Ron was the next one to wake up. Groaning slightly, he saw Harry sitting up on his own bed. "Just woke up?"

"Yeah, long night?" Ron had been dragged by Hermione to another reading session, much to Ron's horror. They stayed up until around 2 in the morning to read, read and read about the future topics in classes. "Don't ask. Too boring to tell," he got up and dragged his way to the bathroom. Harry got out of bed and checked the common room while waiting for Ron to finish. Only a few people were there. Neville was found dozing off in one of the couches while holding a letter from his grand mother. A few first years were there too, reading some books, playing wizard's chess and the likes. Eli was nowhere to be seen. _'Probably off with Dayna," _he thought lazily. He heard someone enter the common room from the Girl's Dormitory. It was Ginny. Apparently, she was looking for Dean, who was still asleep.

After having a shower, Harry and Ron went to the Great Hall for breakfast. A lot of people were already there. Cho was sitting with Rhea and the rest of her gang when they came in. Harry was immediately motioned by them to join them in the Ravenclaw table. Rhea was mouthing him '_we won't eat you, don't worry!' _some of them were already giggling. Ron headed towards the Gryffindor table where Hermione was already sitting. When Harry reached Cho's place in the Ravenclaw table, the giggling intensified.

"Oh come on, you guys! It's not like it's the first time you're ever gonna see us together!" Cho stood up and gave Harry a quick kiss before they sat down. "Fine, fine, we won't bite." Giggling erupted again after Rhea's remark.

Once everyone was already there for breakfast, Professor Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat. The whole Great Hall was stood perfectly silent, waiting for the headmaster's announcement. "Good morning everyone. The last few days had been very turbulent, to say the least. Many people had been suffering losses because of the war that is raging outside. But in these troubled times, there is always something good to be found. Just last night, someone came to my office, someone I thought I'd never see again," murmurs started to erupt around the Great Hall as to even the teachers seemed uneasy with the announcement. Obviously, this announcement's been very uncalled for.

Cho felt once more the feeling that she was feeling last night. It was getting more and more intense. She felt Harry's hand hold hers tightly, assuring her that all is fine. She was glad about Harry's presence beside her. Normally, any moment now, her mind would go haywire and would start thinking about things. Absurd things.

"There will be someone who'd be joining the ranks of the teachers this year. He will be assisting Madame Hooch in her responsibilities as Flight Instructor and Quidditch Official. He's very familiar to all of you, especially to a select few," with that, Professor Dumbledore glanced at the Gryffindor and then at the Ravenclaw table, finding Harry and Cho sitting together, looking thoughtful.

"It is with great pleasure that I welcome Mr. Cedric Diggory!" he said as the people in the Great Hall stood stunned. Professor McGonagall's face went white at this. Professor Snape wore a dark, grim expression as the other teachers started to whisper and murmur among them selves. The students gave out gasps as eyes bolted from the Headmaster to the man standing beside him, making his way to the empty chair beside the shocked Madame Hooch. Eyes bolted towards the Ravenclaw table to find Cho, who went really pale and stiff, and Harry who was staring blankly at the Headmaster.

"I knew it…" Cho mumbled in disbelief. Something stirred inside of her as she saw Cedric once more. Something that she used to feel when she was still with him. _'No. I'm with Harry now. He can't do anything about that' _But the feeling kept on bugging her, slowly taking hold of her. It was like some sort of spell, an enchantment she couldn't point a finger on.

"Tell me, Nassil, how sure are you that this scheme of yours will work?" the Dark Lord sat in his throne, as the Drow King paced near the window once more.

"Oh it is going to be very successful, my Lord. If making the pair separate is what you mean,"

"What makes you so sure?" Wormtail asked as he came from the lower vaults.

"Magic, mr. Wormtail. I would've never allowed that human to leave without a trace of my mark. I placed an enchantment on him, to make the girl leave Potter and reunite with him"

"Ah, very nice indeed, Drow King," Voldemort commented as he rose from his throne, fixing his robes. "This would prove very interesting."

TBC!


	18. Crumble

_**Chapter 18: Crumble**_

"Love is a very funny thing to play with," Nassil began as he paced round and about the chambers of his master's abode. The room had been lit by torches placed on the walls of the room, making it dimly lit and giving off an eerie dark vibe.

"Strange enough, it is the one thing that makes and brakes humans- especially dragoons,"

"I must agree with you, Drow King. We can take this unfortunate couple for example," Lucius pointed to James who was still crucified and Lily who's bound by shackles connected to the wall. "Knowledge of your lover's suffering is indeed painful…" he continued as he approached James with a studded whip in hand. "but watching him suffer…" he gave James a lengthy slash to his side, making him howl in pain and in turn making Lily wail helplessly in the corner, "is priceless to the tormentor"

Nassil stopped in front of Lily as he stooped down and held her chin up to meet his gaze. "Without the two of you, you're son shall fail. He shall fall and become one of us,"

"Never!" she roared with all the spite in her body. The Drow King roared with laughter after hearing her scarred response.

"You humans are a pitiful thing to see. Just you wait, she will leave him. And he will suffer. And soon enough, he shall fall."

"Now, how about we start the teary-eyed farewells?" Lucius whipped out his wand, a manic smile painted on his face as he set his gaze on the crucified form of James"

"Avada…"

* * *

Back at Hogwarts

News of Cedric's returned has haunted the hallowed halls of Hogwarts for days. It had been 5 days since Professor Dumbledore has announced his return. Harry, still at a loss for words of what had just happened, had been seen wandering aimlessly through the corridors of the school looking awfully distant and deep in thought. Cho on the other had was torn. She would try her best to act as normal as she can whenever she and Harry were in public. But whenever they were left to themselves, it was awkward as hell.

_Five Days Ago_

"_How did that happen?" Cho whispered to Harry who was sitting beside her in the Ravenclaw Table. "It must've been a dragoon who did that, am I right? Dragoons are the only known people to have such skill," she rationalized._

"_It just can't be. There's something odd right here…" Harry muttered, still in utter disbelief as he continued to simply stare at the once fallen comrade who was now giving a small speech, explaining what he had experienced. This though was all a blur to Harry. He knew all too well that what he's saying is most probably a cover up._

_As soon as the episode at the Great Hall was over, students went on with their own things. Harry and Cho immediately sought refuge in the privacy of the Room of Requirement. Upon entering the room, Cho went up to Harry and held him fiercely._

"_I haven't been perfectly honest with you, Harry" Cho started as she decided that it was time that she told him about what she had been experiencing for the past few days. This clearly got his attention. "There was something constantly bothering me these past few days. But, I was never really able to put a finger on it. It felt like he was watching me, following me wherever I went,"_

"_And you didn't tell me about this?" he hissed, making Cho cringe a bit. He rarely took that tone with her. It was starting to worry her._

"_I'm sorry Harry! I didn't know what to do! I didn't want to put more things on your plate to worry about! I told myself that it was nothing. But now clearly this isn't nothing at all!"_

"_You still love him, don't you?"_

"_Harry, I'm with you now, okay? That was two years ago. It was hard to let go, it still is but today isn't two years ago. Alright?_

"_I didn't hear a yes or a no." Harry's voice sounded cold and distant. He kept his gaze though; staring right into Cho whose eyes were now full of worry._

"_Harry-"_

"_Just answer the question, Cho"_

"_I… I don't know" Harry broke off from her, taking steps backwards- away from her slowly. Cho tried to reach out to him, extending a hand to hold him again, but Harry simply dodged her._

"_I need to take a walk. I'll see you later," with that, he left the room, leaving a teary-eyed Cho falling to her knees._

Present Day

It had been five days since Harry and Cho were seen together. It had been five days since Harry and Cho said something other than "Hi's" and "Bye's" to each other. It was starting to alarm their friends. But, they're friends knew nothing about what's going on between them. They could only second guess whatever it is that could be bothering the couple.

To make things worse, Harry had seen Cedric on more than one occasion approach Cho and initiate an animated conversation with her. It almost felt like 4th year all over again for him.

"Just talk to her already!" Ron bugged him as they walked through the corridors on their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts class. They had spotted Cho with her usual group of friends talking in a corner near the entrance of their classroom.

"I wouldn't really know what to say once I'm there, Ron. I'd rather not make a fool out of myself," Harry muttered in monotone as he continued to walk towards their classroom, trying his best to avoid casting a glance towards Cho's direction.

"Now that's really stupid, Harry! Of course, apologize to her for whatever it is that you've done. You know, most of the time, the first move has to come from the man." Ron made a point. But to Harry, he felt that what he did was justified. What she told him five days ago was enough for him to doubt if what she felt for him was strong enough.

As they entered the classroom, the professor was still nowhere to be seen. A small group of students however were gathering around Eli who was playing a guitar while singing a song. The words of the song hit Harry.

Here's a letter to your pride  
Our souls and hearts divide  
How can this be?  
We're beckoned to a lie  
Leave uncompromised  
How can this be?  
Kill that memory

After Eli's little performance, the crowd applauded and started to disperse. Eli then saw Harry and Ron by the entrance of the classroom and motioned them to join him.

"You seem troubled, Harry." He said as he placed his guitar back in its case.

"Cho, they haven't been talking for 5 days, remember?" Ron eagerly piped in as Harry nudged him painfully in the rib before giving him a deathly glare.

"Ah yes, I've noticed that too. You're bothered by that Diggory boy, aren't you?"

Harry was about to reply but Ron beat him to it once more. "By Merlin's Beard! Of course he is! He's her ex-boyfriend after all!" Harry let out a grunt of frustration as Eli let out a light chuckle due to Ron's behavior.

"Is that the case? Well, there's only one thing I can say about that, Harry. She's with you now that's all that matters. If you let things get to you, then you'll really lose her,"

Harry let out a sigh. Frustration was starting to win the best of him. Nothing was really going right for him. He could only take so much emotional stress and now with other factors such as fatigue kicking in, he was approaching breaking point.

* * *

Somewhere in London

"Quick! Over here! There's something over here!" an auror called out to his companions who were also surveying the area.

It was one of the countless back alleys of London. It was already 11 in the evening and the search for Lily and James Potter was starting to look hopeless. The weather haven't been cooperative with their search as well. It had been raining since early in the evening, making their search efforts increasingly difficult.

The other aurors along with Remus Lupin rushed to his location and approached the place he was pointing. Remus made it a point to be the one to check what the auror found. His brain was now frantically trying to rationalize what was happening. _'No, this can't be. He won't do that this soon.' _That was the last thing that he ever heard coherently in his head as soon as he saw what the auror pointed out.

The cold and lifeless body of James Potter, lying on the wet streets of London.

* * *

The Black Mansion

The whole process of bring back James' body to the Black Mansion was painful. Lupin could barely contain his emotions as tears would occasionally escape his eyes. The situation worsened as they reached the Black Mansion where Mrs. Weasley and the others were waiting.

"It is as we feared…" Kingsley Shacklebolt muttered to himself as Remus placed James' lifeless body on the couch in the living room. The members of the Order currently present to in the house then gathered in the room, shocked and heartbroken at what beheld their eyes.

"Dumbledore shall be here shortly. For now, we need to start the preparations for James' burial," Mr. Weasley announced.

"Who will be the one to tell Harry?" Mrs. Weasley inquired once she was able to calm down, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I think that would be my job…" Remus said. True, he was the best person to tell Harry, he knew perfectly Harry's capabilities and perhaps he could be the only one that could break it to him gently.

"The poor kid," Mrs. Weasley began as she began to sob lightly once more. "He got his parents back, and now they're being taken again. One by one…"

"We need to rescue Lily. Fast." Remus urged his comrades. "If we lose Lily as well, we will lose Harry," with that, Remus made his way to Hogwarts, praying to the heavens that everything will turn out well enough to keep Harry stable.

"Merlin help us…"

* * *

Back at Hogwarts

Harry had been thinking long and hard about what Eli had pointed out earlier. He had been missing Cho's company terribly and had been struggling for the past 5 days without her.

After dinner, Harry decided that it would be best if he confronted her already. Walking around the corridors, Harry found his feet dragging him to the Quidditch Pitch. It was empty and quiet as it should be. He welcomed the peaceful atmosphere that the pitch offered him.

Walking around, he saw two figures from a couple of distance away. They seem to be in a heated discussion as traces of raised voices could be heard from his position. What got to Harry's attention though was how immensely familiar those to figures were. His eyes squinted to make out whoever these two people were as he started to approach them. He stopped dead on his tracks when he realized who these people were.

Cedric and Cho.

"Leave him! I'm back! I came back for you!" Cedric argued as he stepped closer to Cho who wisely stepped back.

"No, I can't do this to him. He needs me right now. I can't… I need him too!"

"Don't you see it? You're basing your relationship with him with your needs! You don't love him!"

"That's not true!"

Harry felt his heart gently swell with pride as he heard Cho say those words. He felt much better compared to how he was feeling earlier. He decided to move closer and time his entrance.

"You're lying to yourself! If you love him then how come you told me that you couldn't even tell him that you don't love me anymore?"

Harry stopped once more. He wanted to hear this one.

"Fine you want to hear it? I'm not over you! Are you happy now?" Cho fell to her knees and started crying covering her eyes with her hands as she started to sob even more. "I couldn't tell him that because I know it'll break him. I just can't do that…"

Whatever positive mood that Harry got earlier was now clearly gone. He stood there, speechless and thoughtless as he watched Cedric kneel down in front of Cho and hugger her. Cedric raised her chin and kissed her gently. What broke Harry's heart was what came next.

Cho kissed him back.

In a fit of rage, Harry stormed up to the skies and flew as fast as he could, away from Hogwarts, away from all the pain.

* * *

AN: Gaaaaaaah! Sorry for the OVERLY late update! I experienced the longest writer's block in my life. Anyway, I will try my best to finish this whole saga and I promise I will edit all the grammatical errors in the previous chapters. Thank you so much to all those who reviewed. You guys gave me so much inspiration to actually start working again. I know this chapter is nowhere near up to par with the previous ones, I'm still working on how to take the rust of my gears. I really promise to get this done real quick! Comments everyone! Cheers! PS: The song there was from Inyo - Memory Kill


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